Rent arrears and evictions are noticeably rising as Universal Credit becomes the ‘one stop’ benefit for millions of people across the UK. Universal Credit replaces six other benefits (including unemployment benefit, tax credit and housing benefit) and it is designed to be an on-line only system causing additional problems for many people who are not confidently skilled in IT or have no access to the internet.
Before Christmas there was huge concern about the six-week wait for those who have applied before they receive any money. Under pressure, the government reduced the waiting time to four weeks but that has not been the only problem with Universal Credit. It has been calculated that half of all council tenant on Universal Credit are at lease one month in arrears on their rent. Over the past week we have spoken to local community organisations in the area and all say they have had an increase in enquiries from people in trouble with rent arrears since Christmas. One woman said she’d bought winter shoes and coats for her growing children and paid a bigger than usual winter heating bill and now she’s behind in her rent and can see no way of getting back on track.
This story, and similar, were repeated over and over again. In Scotland, where Universal Credit came in first, rent arrears are said to be soaring. In one constituency alone, East Lothian, three quarters of tenants are in rent arrears. These arrears are causing significant stress and depression for those involved and are having a seriously negative affect on councils’ income which is already significantly cut. Similarly, since Universal Credit came in, foodbank referrals have sky-rocketed. One food bank in London says that referrals have increased by 97% since Universal Credit was rolled out and the 2015 Welfare reforms came in.
These cuts and changes to benefits have coincided with cuts and benefits to the free welfare advice services in Lewisham, so as people’s needs for welfare and debt advice have grown, the advice services they need have also been cut. So what can we do about the situation?
- Speak to your landlord as soon as you think you are going to get into arrears. Don’t ignore the problem, it won’t unfortunately, magically disappear.
- Make an appointment to see your local councillors or MP. Let them know how difficult it is to manage Universal Credit and ask them to take it up at the council, and in Parliament. Check here for details of councillors’ and MP’s surgeries.
- Sign the petition for Universal Credit to be abolished: https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/200213. Remember, pressure on the Government got them to change the waiting time from 6 weeks to 4 weeks.
- What the Trust is doing: We are doing a couple of things. Firstly, we are running Digital Skills classes to help prepare people who need to work online. We are also funding Universal Credit Advice training and Debt Advice training for workers and volunteers in the local area so there’s more of us better able to help local people. If you are interested in this training, please email: Jill.mountford@nxgtrust.org.uk. To make an appointment with 170 Community Project advice service you now need to call Lewisham Advice Line 0800 231 5453.