Congrats on a well crafted piece. Your title is spot on!

I’ve been assisting Housing Associations and Private Landlords for years in relation to Housing Benefit and more recently the “Bedroom Tax” and Universal Credit. The focus nowadays is definitely on Universal Credit. Although its rollout has been painstakingly slow; that’s been a blessing for both tenants and landlords alike, as it’s still very much a “work-in-progress”. You and the organisation you represent will shortly become part of the UC bandwagon as it spreads throughout the UK with now 125,000 established claimants with another 11.9 million due to join the ranks before 2019/20. I hasten to add the date is likely to change as every other DWP prediction has been wrong so far!

Only when you start dealing with real live cases will you truly realise just how complex this new benefit can be and just how difficult it can be dealing with a DWP administration which operates remotely and is generally ambivalent to interests of both tenants and landlords – certainly that’s been my experience so far. Social & Private landlords can also testify to some of the schoolboy errors that have been made causing worry & distress to tenants and causing major cash-flow issues for landlords as anticipated rental payments are missed, adding to the already burgeoning rent arrears.

You might find something a bit different as you’re going to be pioneering the new “digital” system. Contrastingly, it has been receiving, on the whole, good feedback from the housing staff involved in both Sutton and Croydon. I visited the Croydon pilot only a few weeks ago and was pleasantly surprised by the feedback. Apparently, the new system is being received well by both claimants and administering staff. But in these areas, it has to be noted, DWP has invested heavily ensuring support is available for the 300/400 claimants involved in each site. The housing staff, whilst supportive, have concerns over, what will happen, if, and when, its extended into new areas starting next May/June where it’s unlikely there will be the same networks of tenant support?

I have similar concerns, as I’m seeing first-hand what’s happening or not for that matter, at the coal-face and assisting housing associations secure compensation for DWP maladministration, caused by a work-force who clearly haven’t a clue about what they’re doing, especially in relation to the “housing element” and the applications for Alternative Payment Arrangements made by landlords, oftentimes with the consent and support of their tenant.

Too much ground to cover in this piece, but have a look at http://universalcreditadvice.com/housing-associations/2015/10/universal-credit—compilation-of-critical-helpful-information-for-front-line-staff as you’re sure to find some interesting tit-bits of information that should assist you.

Good luck!

Bill Irvine