Changes to the DWP Universal Credit Landlord Portal
By Eileen McMullan, SFHA Policy Lead.
Social rented sector – absent joint tenants
Social landlords have long requested changes regarding how the DWP deals with absent joint tenants on the Universal Credit Landlord Portal. The DWP has announced that it has changed how you inform it about absent joint tenants, which means that the full rent for the tenancy will be paid when one of the joint tenants leaves.
The tenant has responsibility to tell DWP about changes, and, once this has happened, the rent will be calculated on the basis on the number of tenants who live in the property, not the number on the tenancy agreement.
Detailed instructions are on the information portal Landlord Portal – Understanding Universal Credit
Rent increases
The DWP has also confirmed that it will require landlords to verify 100% of rent increases for 23/24 as it said that its priority remans to reduce fraud and error. This, again, will place a big administrative burden on landlords, and SFHA will continue to highlight this with the DWP.