“No landlord should discriminate against tenants because they are in receipt of benefits. Every tenant’s circumstance is different and so they should be treated on a case-by-case basis based on their ability to sustain a tenancy.
“More broadly, the Government needs to take action to give both tenants and landlords greater confidence that benefits will cover rents. This should include reversing the decision to freeze housing benefit rates in cash terms and ending the five week wait for the first payment of Universal Credit. Ministers should also enable tenants to choose, at the outset of a claim, if they want the housing element of Universal Credit paid directly to their landlord. We need also a renewed focused on developing new social housing, alongside the private rented sector.”