News

Today (10 December 2020) MHCLG has published an updated version of the How to Rent Guide (England).

A new report from the work and pensions select committee highlights that people in receipt of Universal Credit are at greater risk of falling into rent arrears, which is pushing those who are already facing difficulties into further debt and leaving them reliant on food banks.

?Since the outbreak of COVID-19, Universal Credit has become a lifeline for many households. In the first two weeks of lockdown alone there were over 500,000 claims per week, more than nine times the usual weekly level of applications.

?In a further blow to the PRS, the ban on possession proceedings has been extended until 20 September and landlords must now provide tenants with at least 6 months’ notice period prior to seeking possession through the courts in most cases.

Earlier this year, Caridon Landlord Solutions joined other industry experts in responding to the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee’s inquiry into the economics of Universal Credit. Following this, a series of recommendations for an overhaul of Universal Credit have now been handed to the Department for Work and Pensions by the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee.

Under a landmark court case heard in York County Court on 1 July, a tenant challenged a letting agent for rejecting her application for a privately rented property on the basis of her being in receipt of housing benefit, and won her case.