Universal Credit is so likely to lead to rent arrears, a lettings
agent has taken the “extraordinary” step of issuing notices of
eviction to its tenants, Labour reveals today.
Hundreds of families in North East Lincolnshire are thought to
have received the ‘section 21’ notices from GAP Property ahead of
next month’s rollout of Universal Credit (UC) in the area.
Section 21 notices give a tenant two months’ notice that they may
be evicted and lasts for six months, during which time possession
proceedings can be issued without further notice and without
fault on the part of the tenant.
It comes after the National Landlords Association found just two
in 10 of their members would let to a tenant who receives UC or
housing benefit, and a major housing association reporting the
arrears rate for those claiming UC is around three times higher
than for other tenants.
An investigation by The Observer newspaper recently found half of
all council tenants on UC across 105 local authorities are at
least one month behind on their rent, compared to less than 10%
who remain on housing benefit.
In the letter, GAP Property tells tenants UC is being rolled out
in North East Lincolnshire from 13 December and states it “cannot
sustain arrears at the potential levels Universal Credit could
create (this affects the vast majority of our tenants)”.
The letter concludes: “This is an extraordinary event that
requires both you and us to take extraordinary measures.”
Labour Leader , who raised the issue with
at Prime Minister’s Questions,
said:
“Blanket notices of eviction handed to tenants because of
Universal Credit are totally unacceptable, should shock us all
and bring shame on this Conservative Government.
“Ministers have been told over and over again that the rollout of
their flagship social security policy is causing debt, hardship
and homelessness, and this is further proof of the devastating
impact it is having. The Tories must immediately pause the
rollout and fix these problems that are turning people’s lives
upside down.”
MP, Shadow Housing Secretary,
said:
“This letter shows that the Government’s Universal Credit chaos
is leading directly to threats of eviction. People on ordinary
incomes, both in and out of work, are paying the price for
ministers’ ideology and incompetence.
“The actions of the letting agent are shocking, but the buck
stops with ministers. During seven years of failure on housing,
this Government has ignored renters with no protection against
poor standards, no control of rising rents and no action on
constant insecurity.
“Ministers must pause universal credit and fix the problems, and
act on Labour’s plans to give renters the consumer rights they
deserve.”
Ends
Notes to editors
The National Landlords Association found that just two in 10 of
their members would let to a tenant in receipt of UC or housing
benefit, a significant fall in recent years: https://www.landlords.org.uk/news-campaigns/news/two-in-ten-landlords-willing-house-universal-credit-tenants
Figures obtained by the Observer from Freedom of
Information requests suggest that half of all council tenants on
UC across 105 local authorities are at least one month behind on
their rent, compared to less than 10% of tenants who remain on
housing benefit:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/sep/16/universal-credit-rent-arrears-soar
An independent evaluation of the impact of the partial
UC rollout in the London boroughs of Croydon and Southwark found
that UC tenants were on average £156 in arrears 20 weeks after
starting a claim. In the London Borough of Southwark alone, rent
areas for tenants on UC total over £5m:
http://www.southwark.gov.uk/assets/attach/5092/Safe_as_Houses.pdf
Peabody, one of the largest housing associations, has
reported that the arrears rate for tenants on UC is around three
times higher than those not affected by UC: http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/work-and-pensions-committee/universal-credit-rollout/written/71124.pdf
Halton Housing Trust found that rent arrears increased
by more than half when tenants were transferred on to UC:
http://data.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/committeeevidence.svc/evidencedocument/work-and-pensions-committee/universal-credit-rollout/written/70150.pdf
Labour has called on the government to pause and fix
UC:
http://press.labour.org.uk/post/166543445094/labour-motion-calling-for-pause-to-universal
Labour’s housing manifesto sets out a comprehensive set
of new consumer rights for renters:
https://labour.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Housing-Mini-Manifesto.pdf
Established in 1997, GAP Property’s Facebook page says it
“currently manages over 500 properties throughout North East
Lincolnshire”:
https://www.facebook.com/GAPPropertyGrimsby/
