25th
Feb 2025
The Work and Pensions Secretary is reviewing a contentious system that permits landlords to automatically deduct rent arrears and ongoing rent payments from tenants' benefits.
This review comes in response to concerns that the system, designed to help tenants avoid issues like eviction, might actually be driving the poorest into debt.
This comes after the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) decided not to appeal a court ruling which determined that one claimant's landlord payments were unjust.
The DWP currently uses computer software that automatically authorises landlords to receive up to 20% of a tenant's monthly Universal Credit payments for unpaid rent, without consulting the tenant or the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
The department will now review this process to identify better methods for ensuring landlords receive their owed rent in a fair and proportionate manner while safeguarding benefit claimants from falling into debt.
This initiative is part of broader efforts by the Work and Pensions Secretary, Liz Kendall, to enhance the welfare system.
Kendall said: “I am determined to right the wrongs that have persisted in the benefits system for too long. The automatic approval of landlords’ requests for tenants’ benefits to be deducted is one of these.”
This decision stems from the high-profile challenge highlighting the need for a review of the existing system.
The notable legal case in January saw Nathan Roberts emerge victorious after his benefits were deducted and automatically paid to his landlord for supposed rent arrears and ongoing rent, despite ongoing disputes about property repairs.
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