Universal Credit trial increases arrears by a factor of seven!

Paul Johnson
The issue with timely evictions is that they are the only way to persuade LL to rent to HB tenants .
I accept that making the same point will NOT bring about timely eviction.
For this reason LL will continue to withdraw rental property from HB tenants.
So the long drawn out eviction process actually conspires against HB tenants to be able to source rental property.
As for the PRS; it has NO obligation to house people; if LL want the tenant out then that is as it should be.
Immediate eviction need only be available in cases of non-rent payment.
It is simple stuff really.
Why should a LL have to suffer because some silly tenant can't or won't pay the rent.
Most evictions occur because of non-rent payment.
HB tenants know how long it takes to evict them which is why they will continue to not pay and make it worse for all the good HB tenants who do pay but who find themselves evicted as the LL are worried about not being paid when UC comes in.
It is a fact the existing eviction laws are not working effectively and they do no favours for HB tenants.
We only need a change in eviction in the case of non-rent payment.
But I accept this will NEVER happen and so with UC nearly with us LL will continue to exit the HB market.
What help is that to HB tenants!!?
DOA are a good idea; trouble is not many HB tenants have a good enough guarantor possibility.

Maybe i'm missing something Paul or my area is different. Eviction process is a problem for all types of tenants,HB, private,company let everything.However in my case if my HB tenant goes 8 weeks over their rent period I can have the money diverted to me. I will be 8 weeks out of pocket but i can chase them for the shortfall which in my case is mainly10% or less. I would much rather have a HB tenant owing me rent than a working tenant. I dont understand in your case why you tie up the problems of eviction with HB tenants, Its aqll tenants.I feel there's a little bit of politics there. To be honest if i do have a problem its trying to get people to pay for any repairs that may need doing when they leave.That is a bigger problem than none payment. Rental payment problem is the one i'm trying to avoid by the introduction of UC. If the council does not divert that money to me i will have a big problem. Speeding up the eviction process is neither here nor there to me . All you will do by campaigning for this is demonise LL's even more than they are now.We have the easiest eviction laws in the EU.The DOA mentioned should be a starting point for a new type of contract that both tenants and LL can demand should they both wish. Banks will change their criteria they always do. I'm not trying to be contrary, I'm just saying that PRS LL's are losing the publicity battle and for every demand LL's make it should be balanced. Anyway thats me finished for comments on this thread.

I have to say your comments show a startling level of naivety!
So I'll educate you and you should learn something about the issues you face but don't seem to appreciate.
As it stands presently with LHA you are in a slightly better position before the advent of UC.
You are correct about LHA being only being 8 weeks in arrears before you may receive direct payment; or rather that is NOT correct.
You may after 2 missed rent payment dates request direct payment.
Only if your AST allows rent payments in arrears would you have to wait 8 weeks before you may claim direct payment.
Oherwise after 1 month and 1 day you contact the council to advise your tenancy is in 2 months of rent arrears.
It then takes about a month for the council to sort themselves out as you have to send confirmation and evidence of rent payments etc. and then you will recive the LHA but in arrears.
However if there is a problem with the claim and the tenant does not engage with the council the LHA will be suspended; and you will receive NOTHING.
Also if a reduction occurs you will receive less LHA if the claimant's circumstances have changed.
Now there is a useful little clause you may apply to your AST which would have meant that the council would have to pay LHA directly whether the tenant wanted it or NOT.
See Johnathan Clarke's post on LHA payments on propertytribes; VERY useful info for ALL LHA LL and any other LL, we can all find ourselves receiving LHA rent whether we like it or not!
Now when we have UC come along there will be very little opportunity to receive rent directly.
It is unlikely that the same clause that one can use presently for LHA tenants will exist for UC tenants.
Therefore all a UC tenant has to do is move in paying one presumes a months advance rent and a deposit.
The 2nd month they don't pay rent and then what does the LL do!?
Well you have to wait 1 month and 1 day before you may submit a S 8, then you have to wait 14 days before you may submit a PO.
Then it takes about another 8 months to effect an eviction.
Now can you see the efficacy of a LL being able to evict after 1 month of rental arrears with the assistance of the police if the tenant refuses to leave!!?
As this timely eviction situation DOESN'T and I doubt will EVER exist LL are left with little choice than to deny their rental accommodation to HB tenants.
Hopefully you now realise how vulnerable you are.
I hope you have vast funds to pay your mortgages for the average 9 months it takes to evict a tenant who hasn't paid rent.
From a personal perspective I cannot take a risk on a tenant on whom I cannot obtain RGI on or even their guarantor if they have one.
If I could evict after 1 month a 1 day of non- rent payment then I could take on such HB tenants knowing they could not prevent me.
As for being political about these HB evictions; no that is not the case.
The circumstances I have outlined obviously refer to HB tenants and the HB they receive.
Of course any other tenant could cause the same problems; but NOT if I have RGI on them!
Of course it will take time to evict them; my latest wrongun tenant took 10 months; but of course I wasn't eventually that much out of pocket as I had THIS TIME the foresight to obtain RGI on the tenant.
Not so the previous 4 times!!!!
I received £10333.00 which prevented me from being bankrupted.
It might surprise you that I do NOT have a spare £10000 knocking around to pay the mortgage in the absence of RENT!!
Can you see now why actually effective immediate eviction is fundamental to the viability of a LL to take on a HB tenant and for any other tenant or their guarantor you take on that can't pass a RGI check!!
UC will fundamentally worsen the situation; LL who fail to recognise their parlous situation will be in for an almighty shock when their UC tenants fail to pay their rent and instead spend it on holidays; fags, booze, gambling, drugs etc.
You won't be able to do a single thing about it and will have to evict, hope you have a lot of spare cash to pay those mortgages!!!

Sorry Paul but this comment is wrong for a start""""Only if your AST allows rent payments in arrears would you have to wait 8 weeks before you may claim direct payment.
Oherwise after 1 month and 1 day you contact the council to advise your tenancy is in 2 months of rent arrears."""" arrears means arrears regardless of wether yr tenant pays in advance on yr AST. Whether those rules are applied differently to different councils I dont know.

But the points you make I agree with most of them. Where i differ with you is on the point of in the current HB regime I much prefer to have a tenant go into arrears who is on benefit than one who is not. My council stops the money immediately going to the tenant and providing everything is cosher it takes 6-8 weeks and it gets diverted. T

pj says:

20/03/2013 at 18:37

Sorry Paul but this comment is wrong for a start”"”"Only if your AST allows rent payments in arrears would you have to wait 8 weeks before you may claim direct payment.
Oherwise after 1 month and 1 day you contact the council to advise your tenancy is in 2 months of rent arrears.”"”" arrears means arrears regardless of wether yr tenant pays in advance on yr AST[. Whether those rules are applied differently to different councils I dont know.

But the points you make I agree with most of them. Where i differ with you is on the point of in the current HB regime I much prefer to have a tenant go into arrears who is on benefit than one who is not. My council stops the money immediately going to the tenant and providing everything is cosher it takes 6-8 weeks and it gets diverted. There is changes in circumstances, payments get suspended,issues here and there, but by and large i get paid.Sometimes Paul you have to work for your Sky,Fags and booze.

I totally agree with you on UC, even a LL like me who is probably the most undiscriminating of LL would probably think carefully about HB tenants

Yep I think you are managing things correctly with the present regime; it is the new one that is worrying.
As for rent arrears I appreciate as you suggest that councils may have different policies.
I can't remember now how long i had to wait before I could claim LHA directly.
But of course it is possible to have LHA paid directly at the outset of a tenancy.....................not a lot of LL know that......................................I certainly didn't!!!
The existing LHA regime is something that HB LL have grown comfortable with and consequently they are I believe a little complacent about the oncoming UC disaster.
When the DWP take over I have no idea whether they will be as useless as the council HB depts!!!
I think where possible LL are exiting the HB market if they consider they are unable to sustain mortgage payments in the event of a lengthy eviction.
The UC pathfinder tests should be sending alarm bells ringing as to the likely outcome of UC on a tenant's rent payments being made.It is not as though there is a shortgae of tenants.
I am now being contacted by LA to ascertain if I have any spare property available.
They are facing issues with having lots of tenant applicants but no property to put them in!!
We are not talking about HB tenants here.
I reckon that LL will take the opportunity as soon as they can to replace a HB tenant with a normal tenant on whom they could obtain RGI.
Of course if the UC situation is not a disaster then LL may slowly return to the HB market on whom they may be able to achieve a higher return.
I reckon LL will take on normal tenants as an insurance policy and then maybe take on HB tenants later on if this UC turns out to be OK and the returns are more than private tenants.
It is a waiting game; I prefer NOT to be in this particular game because of the existing eviction laws.!!!!

I totally agree....I know there is a way to get paid HB directly straight away but when i looked into it i thought it was full of holes, but apparently its ok and it works. My system functions[so far] and dont need to change it.......Until now....I'm dreading UC dont know what to do. I,m sure we agree on most points, Though evictions hasn't being a mjor problem for me....But if UC stops direct payment then the game changes and that unfortunately probably means I could only function with a tightening of the eviction laws[which wont happen] or to try and off load properties where i'm exposed to the more problematic tenants...And that's a shame because just to give you one example....I have one tenant who has 3 kids and an abusive alcoholic husband,with out a doubt he will take that money off her.She has a low iq but not special needs,unfortunately i will have to issue a notice to quit as soon as she doesnt pay[if i was cruel before that] I will feel awful, she will go into BB probably, kids change school,probably social services more involved,much more tax payers money spent and for what? it's just crazy to me,,,who thinks up these things

I agree I think this UC is going back to the 1900's.
The monthly income going to the male householder and then down the pub or bookies!!
Pity the wife and kids!!
I reckon there will be lots more evictions occurring as a consequence of this.
I think LL might take the situation as an opportunity to improve their properties especially those that don't meet the EPC A-E standard, to then let to a better quality tenant.
Or they will sell up to all these new homebuyers armed with their 5% deposit and govt 20% guarantee!
They will be looking for cheape for LL to offload that cheaper LHA property and invest in a better quality property and area which should attract decent tenants.
Of course this means less rental property available for LHA/UC tenants; but so what!!

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