Golden Gates HT scheme on UC to be rolled out

The programme has been piloted by social landlords including Golden Gates Housing Trust and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The scheme has been evaluated by the DWP and will roll out to all social landlords on Wednesday.

Under universal credit, which combines six benefits into one, tenants are paid their benefit for housing costs directly instead of to their landlord. Landlords have expressed concern that some tenants will be unable to manage their money and will fail to pay their rent.

Landlords can apply to have the rent payment switched back to them under an ‘alternative payment arrangement’ (APA) if a tenant is in two months of arrears.

However, until now, this has only been possible by sending a letter via post.

In February, Inside Housing revealed that social landlords were experiencing long delays recouping rent payments from the DWP after applying for APAs through the post.

Under the new scheme, landlords can send their APA requests through a secure email system. They still receive notice of rental payment from the DWP through the post.

Carmel Morris, senior financial inclusion officer at Golden Gates Housing Trust, previously said the initial results of the pilot were promising.

A DWP spokesperson said APAs were available to a ‘small minority of claimants struggling to pay their rent‘. ‘A new system comes in shortly that will make the [APA] process quicker for landlords and tenants where alternative payments are required.’

Last month, Inside Housing revealed that First Choice Homes Oldham has begun trialling a government-backed scheme under which ‘trusted’ landlords will be able to secure APAs automatically without having to submit an application to the DWP.

UPDATE: 14.07.2015, 10.30am

The DWP contacted Inside Housing to say that the postal application system would still be available for landlords who cannot email or would prefer to do it this way.