Universal Credit: New online form for landlords to request direct payments

14 May 2020 02:52 PM

Landlords who apply via the current UC47 process to request a direct rent payment will now be able to use a digital form for requests.

The online form, which can be accessed here, can be used by landlords to request a direct payments of rent or rent arrears, replacing the UC47 paper-based form.

The online form is something the NRLA has been calling for.

Managed Payments To Landlords

Currently, a managed payment to a landlord can be made when:

• a claimant is in arrears with their rent for an amount equal to, or more than, 2 months of their rent
• a claimant has continually underpaid their rent over more than 2 months, and they have accrued arrears of an amount equal to or more than one month’s rent
• any of the other Tier 1 and Tier 2 APA factors apply
• a claimant was previously in receipt of Housing Benefit and it was paid to their landlord, a MPTL can be considered providing the claimant continues to meet the Tier 1 or Tier 2 APA factors

NRLA campaigning around welfare reform and Covid-19

During the current pandemic, the NRLA has been campaigning for a number of changes to welfare reform.

The government recently heeded the association’s call for LHA rates to be realigned to the 30th percentile or market rents. The NRLA is also calling for a temporary halt to the 5 weeks waiting period for the first installment of Universal Credit to be paid. More information for tenants on claiming universal credit can be read in our guidance here.