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<p>No year contains 53 weeks. This perceived issue of their being 53 weeks in a year
arises where a landlord charges rent weekly on a Monday and, because of the way the
calendar falls every 5 or 6 years, seeks 53 rent payments in a year, with the 53rd
payment in part covering the tenancy for the first few days of the following year.</p><p>Universal
Credit payments are designed to mirror the world of work, with monthly payments reflecting
the way many working people are paid. This model of monthly payments allows claimants
to take responsibility for budgeting their own income and helps prepare them for getting
back to work. The Money and Pension Service can provide debt advice and money guidance
to claimants if they need support managing their monthly Universal Credit payments.</p><p>We
are aware of a separate issue with respect to the way the calculation in the Universal
Credit regulations converts a weekly liability into a monthly allowance. The conversion
is achieved by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 and then dividing by 12. This effectively
means one day’s rent a year (two days in a leap years) are not covered by UC. We are
currently considering whether this formulation around weekly rents, and potentially
other weekly amounts in the UC calculation, should be amended.</p>
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