| answer text |
<p>The Department has looked into this issue again and has concluded that neither
tenants or landlords suffer financial disadvantage in 53 weekly payment years.</p><p>
</p><p>Universal Credit simplifies the welfare system for working age claimants and
is paid on a monthly cycle to reflect the fact that the vast majority of people receive
their wages monthly. Many social landlords still expect their tenants to pay rent
on a weekly basis, a practice based upon a time when both wages and benefits were
paid weekly.</p><p>This perceived issue is caused by the impossibility of accurately
aligning weekly and monthly payment cycles at all points in time. By selecting a random
period, it is possible to show a theoretical shortfall which does not exist in practice.
Having 53 rent payment days does not mean having a higher rental liability over the
course of the year; some of the days covered by the final payment will relate to the
next year because a year never contains 53 full weeks.</p><p> </p><p>The effect of
this is that, over the course of the next housing association rental year, a tenant’s
UC payments will accurately reflect their liability, irrespective of the 53 payment
weeks.</p>
|
|
