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Responding to a House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee call for evidence into the economic impact of Universal Credit, Caridon Landlord Solutions highlighted the issues landlords and tenants have with the UC system and the consequences claimants face.

We understand that amidst these uncertain times, there is an enormous amount of new information being released every day. One of the things we are hearing is that, because every individual’s circumstances are different, landlords are finding it difficult to cut through all of the information in order to access what is relevant to them.

Concern about the COVID-19 outbreak is mounting around the world with the situation developing and changing fast. We are all having to take steps to deal with the issues that arise as a result of this unprecedented situation, but with so much information landlords and tenants are finding it difficult to decipher fact from fiction.

As The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) grapples with nearly one million new claimants applying for Universal Credit following the outbreak of COVID-19, Caridon Landlord Solutions, part of Caridon Group, says landlords should educate themselves on the Universal Credit system now so that they can support their tenants and both mitigate the risk of rental arrears.

Last week, in his first budget as chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced a £30bn package to tackle the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak. One of the measures included temporarily removing the Minimum Income Floor for Universal Credit claimants, to ensure those on zero-contract hours and the self-employed are not financially worse off if they are forced not to work due to the spread of Coronavirus.

This week, the final episode of the BBC2’s "Universal Credit: Inside the Welfare State" aired. Amid mounting criticism, DWP opened the door to BBC cameras. Among the various topics on the final episode, the problems associated with advance payments took centre stage. The final episode took place in Bolton, which has unusually high levels of unemployment for people aged between 17 and 24. Around 500 people move onto Universal Credit every month.