Universal Credit: DWP announces change to system of rent verification

On Friday 11 February, the DWP announced a change to the system of rent verification, and, from April 2022, social landlords will need to verify all annual rent changes reported by tenants. This change will be a significant administration burden for housing associations and co-operatives. Previously, a tolerance level was set so that only a selection of rent verifications had to be carried out by landlords.

The DWP has stated the reason for this change is that it needs to reduce fraud and error caused by annual rent changes. It is disappointing that the DWP has not listened to suggestions from the sector regarding what would make the process easier and less likely to be subject to fraud and error. No progress has been made either on the introduction of a bulk upload, and it is unlikely that this will be introduced.

Guidance on the change can be found here Landlord Portal - Understanding Universal Credit