Housing benefit paid direct moving to UC

A have a long term tenant migrating on to Universal Credit. Has been a tenant for over 10 years, due to initial persistent rent arrears, the rent has been paid directly to me for the last 10+ years. This is an agreement I made with the council many years ago - if they paid direct I would keep the tenant. The rent has been paid 4 weekly in arrears. The small top up has been sporadic but generally paid.
Occasionally the council have made a discretionary payment, after they have messed up the claim, so it’s kept everything going. I’ve kept the rent unchanged for a couple of years now and is around LHA level. 

Tenant has informed me they are migrating to UC. How does this affect the rent?

1. will it still be paid 4 weekly in arrears?
2. Will it still be paid direct?

Many thanks for any advice. I don’t want to evict the tenant from what has been her home for many years, but I do need the rent paid. 

Comments

  • TimeLord1
    TimeLord1 Posts: 852 Forumite
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    edited 26 April at 10:50AM
    When they start the claim, they should be able to tick and enter your details and councils. Universal Credit should eventually contact the council to confirm your agreement with the tenant and you.

    It will be bacs paid in arrears, as that is how they do it to stop overpayment and errors. 

    Or you can also contact UC to get the rent payments directly. But the council should be aware of your previous rent arrears and having payments sent directly to you.
  • thebeeches
    thebeeches Posts: 26 Forumite
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    Is it monthly or 4-weekly?
  • KxMx
    KxMx Posts: 11,015 Forumite
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    UC is paid monthly (30 days). 
  • Spoonie_Turtle
    Spoonie_Turtle Posts: 10,095 Forumite
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    It is monthly but the first payment is 1 month+1 week after the claim date; it works on calendar monthly dates but there's some slight variation for when the date falls on a weekend.

    That said, there is a 2-week run-on of Housing Benefit when migrating, so the first UC payment will in effect be a month's payment for 3 weeks in rent arrears if I've understood correctly.
  • Newcad
    Newcad Posts: 1,639 Forumite
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    edited 26 April at 4:40PM
    In UC it is called a "Managed Payment To Landlord" or MPTL.
    It's a type of UC "Alternative Payment Arrangement" or APA.
    If the person migrating to UC already has their Housing Benefit paid direct to landlord then they can request that continues from UC.
    You will be asked to comfirm the rent. NOTE that they will often say the claimant needs to show them a "recent" Tenancy Agreenent - that is not true at all (but it makes their job easier). A simple letter saying XXX is my tenant and the rent is currently £YYY is sufficent.
    You may find this about MPTLs  of general use:

  • 8dayweek
    8dayweek Posts: 204 Forumite
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    This sounds like PRS housing - so at no point will the council be contacted about prior arrangements (even if they were contacted, GDPR would almost certainly prevent them sharing a random private landlord’s bank details!)

    In order for the Housing Element to be paid to the the landlord either the tenant needs to request this AND supply UC all the relevant info to set this up (landlord’s contact details, including an email address, tenancy reference and landlord’s bank details) OR the landlord can request this via the application for direct rent payments via gov.uk website. 



  • thebeeches
    thebeeches Posts: 26 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10 Posts Combo Breaker
    Thanks for all the information, very helpful.

    I hope there is no gap between one finishing and the other starting. I can report back on how it goes in due course, to help anyone else in the same situation. 
  • Newcad
    Newcad Posts: 1,639 Forumite
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    edited 29 April at 5:22PM
    There is acrually a 2-week run on of Housing Benefit when you migrate to UC.
    Once you claim UC you get another 2-weeks HB and then it stops. You UC Housing Element is paid from the day you claim. and the first payment is 5 weeks after you claim and then the same date each month. (Or the last working day before if it's a weekend or Bank Holiday).
    So for those 2-weeks you get both HB and UC-HE, and you don't have to pay any of it back.
    As the PRS landlord getting direct payments of HB in this situation you should get the extra 2-weeks of HB run-on still paid to you, and will need to discuss with your tenant how the ongoing UC-HE is going to be paid to you.
    Personally I used to have my HB paid direct to landlord, but when I migrated to UC I instead had it paid to me and set up a direct debit to pay my landlord on the same day each month that I get my UC.
    If the rent is weekly then it needs working out and agreeing how much the Direct Debit (or Standing Order) should be each month.
    The DWP use weekly rent x 52 / 12 but Weekly rent / 7 x 365 / 12 is more accurate.
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