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92 to 96% of housing costs paid?
Hello,
Not sure if I’ve missed something here…
Quite a few UC clients are receiving 92 to 96% of their housing costs. All are single claimants renting from housing associations. Snip attached.
Can anyone please clarify why that is the case?
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Ineligible service charges? Possibly hot water (£3.50), lighting (2.40), cooking (£3.50) and water rates (£2.90) = £12.30.
Oh! That’s awesome - Where can I find the breakdown for future reference?
Disability Rights Handbook current edition on page 183.
Rent free weeks can cause the housing costs on UC to look like this. 4 rent free weeks per year leads to the payment being about 92% of the rent in a month where none of the rent free weeks fall..
I don’t think the fuel deduction figures above are relevant here - they’re weekly figures used in calculating housing benefit.
I don’t think the fuel deduction figures above are relevant here - they’re weekly figures used in calculating housing benefit.
Agreed. Possibly just a deduction for water rates may make more sense.
According to para 31 of UC Schedule 4, the housing element for a social sector tenant is reduced by the amount of any “commodity” included in the rent. The term “commodity” is undefined, but para 31 gives the examples “water or fuel”. It is left to DWP to decide how much is attributable to any such “commodity” - perhaps they are using the HB fuel charges as a benchmark.
Para 31 will only apply in a case where:
- the claimant is a social sector tenant, and
- either:
- the rent includes unspecified charges for “commodities”, or
- there is a generic service charge which includes both eligible items and “commodities”