Landlord to 'rigorously test' direct benefit payments in pilot

Published by Ross Macmillan for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities, Local Government

A housing chief says piloting direct benefit payments to social  tenants ahead of Universal Credit will help the landlord "rigorously test the new system" ahead of its implementation in 2013.

Wakefield and District Housing (WDH) and Wakefield Council are involved in one of the five direct payments pilots - announced last week - which will see housing benefit paid directly to tenants for 12 months from June.

The pilots are designed to look at the appropriate level of safeguards needed to help secure landlord income streams if tenants fall behind on their rent. They will also explore the level of support tenants need to budget their benefits.

WDH says it will use the pilot to influence and shape the Government’s final policy to ensure it meets the needs of local people.

Universal Credit, which comes in from October 2013, will see benefits including Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance paid in one standard monthly allowance to claimants, instead of being paid separately.

Kevin Dodd, Chief Executive of WDH, has been involved in the application from the outset and has been liaising closely partners and others on this scheme.

Mr Dodd said: “We are extremely pleased to be leading this pilot on behalf of housing associations and local authorities across the north of England, because it is crucial that we ensure such a major change fully represents the needs of people living in our communities.

“Paying benefits directly could have a positive impact on our communities because it will encourage people to be responsible for and manage their own budgets. However there are also big potential pitfalls including the increased pressure on tenants to control their finances, the risk of increased doorstep lending, and possible hardship for some people.

“Becoming one of the five pilot areas allows us and Wakefield Council to work together to rigorously test the new system to ensure the proposals are to the benefit of tenants and residents. We will then be providing extensive feedback on our findings to the Government.

“As the launch of the pilot approaches, we will be working closely with local people across the district to make sure they fully understand the changes and have the support they need to manage their finances.”

Cllr Graham Stokes, Wakefield Council’s cabinet member for Corporate Performance, said: “We are really pleased to be working in partnership with WDH and the DWP on this pilot project. This pilot will help us understand the likely impact of the changes on our residents and this will enable us to develop strategies to minimise any difficulties they will experience.

“We are hoping that our early involvement will give us the opportunity to influence the Government in relation to the final implementation plans in a way that will be helpful to our residents.

“We believe that the payment arrangements to be introduced under universal credit may cause difficulty to some of our residents, but hope that by being part of the pilot we will be able to identify those problems very early on and so have more time before the changes are implemented to find the solutions to help them.”