Hi, I am about to rent my flat to someone on Universal Credit, the tenant has a job but the UC is to top up. The credit check went well as says PASS.
My questions are ?
1 - Can I get the UC amount into my account direct and the tenant pay the balance to me ?
2 - Do I get in touch with the UC office and advise them of the rent amount or the tenant?
3 - Does the UC gets paid with enough time so the monthly rents gets paid on the due date as per tenancy agreement?
I remember before UC the Housing benefit was paid every 4 weeks so there were some over and under payment across a 12 months period. Hence my question.
depends on LHA but usually the payment goes direct to the tenant. Only if they fall behind can it go direct to landlord, and even then the tenant can revoke this.
tenant arranges it all with benefits office.
there may be a big delay before tenant receives the initial HB. This is why I require the tenant to pay rent themselves until HB is sorted. When the tenant receives the monthly benefit it may be way different to when its due.
Thank you Mark10, very useful.
As per my Q2. I have an email from my future tenant cc: the local UC office saying that I should contact them, submit all the necessary documents etc. and the UC office also mention to give them :
Bank details into which to make payments. Please also provide the address of the account holder.
2.Once this has been received, we will contact you to confirm that we have released the agreed funds to your chosen bank account.
Based on their requirements as per >>1 and >>2. Does this mean this individual has had problems with paying the rent to the previous landlord.
Also, this email from the UC office says that once they receive all the necessary document they will make a decision but the Referencing Report came back as Pass. What is the connection here?
I suppose if the UC office is offering to pay the advance towards a nominated account, this means this individual had difficulties budgeting before.
Referencing was done via Goodlord, when advertised with a local estate agent. Now this individual found me on Open Rent and I am to use all the checking facilities provided by Open Rent. But absolutely puzzled about a PASS from Goodlord and on UC. I know this individual’s annual pay is not enough to cover the rent, the salary amount sits more towards the rent formula value rather than the other way
trying to deal with Universal credit can be a black hole for your time. ask yourself if I dont get the UC can I get by with a lower amount? I have been bitten several times by UC; when a tenant closes the claim you can whistle for your unpaid money. Sometimes you just have to experience getting shafted for yourself as part of the learning curve as a LL
UC may be paused or cancelled as a response to a claimant not doing as the rules require.
T will be warned, you won’t.
One would hope that the T would keep you informed of payment or potential payment difficulties.
Key word : “hope”
UC will reveal nothing to you and may try to persuade the LL to delay taking action.
I’ve been there, be warned.
Thank you for all your comments.
Latest news. The council emailed me direct and cc T, they are prepare to pay the rent and I have to submit the tenancy agreement to them and the bank account details where the money should go.
Will this be some reassurance for LL that the council will have communication with LL.
Has anyone experience this communication with the council?
I’m on UC and working. I have never had a delay in payment when moving, I wouldn’t mind if UC paid directly to LL, although I make paying rent a first priority anyway, I think the reason UC pay the LHA to tenant and other payments, such as tax credits ect on a monthly basis is because they want claimants to show they are responsible with their money as if it was a normal monthly wage. I just don’t get how anyone can not their pay rent, these people are ruining my chances of being accepted at another property, and causing financial hardship to the owners.