Lib Dem call for direct UC payments to landlords

ah the ever repeating cycle of the human condition. A few decades ago rent payments went directly to the landlord. Then some bright spark thought it was a better idea to pay directly to tenants. Yeah like those on benefits are whiz kids in financial management. The choice between booze, fags or rents was a problem wrestled with on a monthly basis. This of course created artificial jobs within LA s like dispute resolution teams etc . And now we have a proposition that payments should go directly to the landlord and being touted as if they just discovered fire.... will these guys ever take a day off ?

I see the article dates from March. Funny how it didn't hit the national press. At least some of the Lib Dems (for whom I have very little time) have some common sense. One of the commenters said:

"Not all benefit claimants can manage their money well and those of us who deal with these issues know that and see it. The assumption by government that they can is wishful thinking. Even without UC, landlords are currently owed vast sums by benefit claimants and many may never see that money ever"

That should be explained to every politician in the country.

The national press prefers to kindle the flames between labour and Tories, so policy statements from smaller parties are not reported so much. Most of the tenants who get into arrears are not wastrels or addicts, as you suggest AA.
The abject failings of those who administer UC have pushed many decent tenants into arrears or homelessness. The system is slow, confusing and cumbersome, quite the opposite of what it was supposed to be. PRS landlords have no allies anywhere else in politics, maybe we should be contacting the Lib Dems and providing them with some real life scenarios to make our case. The other two parties are on the popularity-boosting anti landlord bandwagon and don't want to bother themselves with facts that might upset the more radical elements of generation rent

Here is something I put in an earlier post, which relates to this. The more I put it out there, one day, just one day, Teresa May may read it & say What are we playing at?

Below is the email that UC are now sending to us u Landlords when we report that the tenants is in arrears. I think & have also been told by Bill Irvine Master of putting up with the crap of UC, that I HAVE sent the CORRECT arrears form to the CORRECT email address:

Thank you for your enquiry.

This email address is only for Landlords to use when requesting a Managed Payment of housing costs or rent arrears or both from Universal Credit.

For all other housing enquires please use the Housing email address UC.SERVICECENTREHOUSING@DWP.GSI.GOV.UK

In order to process your enquiry we require a fully completed ÏSecure or Ð Non Secure UC47 request form.

If you have sent a ÏSecure UC47 form to this email box from a Ð Non Secure email address we will not process it as it does not comply with Data Protection legislation and your email and form will be deleted. A secure email address is one that includes GSI, GCSX, GSX, CJX, CJSM, GOV.UK, GOV.SCOT or GSE. This is to minimise the risk of sensitive information being intercepted and misused. If you do not have a secure email address and have completed a ÏSecure UC47 request form then please complete the Ð Non Secure UC47 form and resend.
Alternatively you can send the completed ÏSecure UC47 form to: FREEPOST DWP UNIVERSAL CREDIT LIVE SERVICE.
Once the completed form is received a decision will be made whether or not to make a Managed Payment of housing costs, arrears deductions or both. We endeavour to action your request prior to the end of the assessment period.

Now I ain't thick, but I reckon u have got to have a degree in English, Physics, Algebra, Computer Science to understand what that email means.

Just this one email sent to all Landlords who are trying to report arrears ie., that the rent isn't coming in to pay the mortgage, WILL BE CONTRIBUTING to a few percent of homelessness ie. many thousands.
If is is DWP's & Govt's intention ANOTHER INTENTION to make it hard for Landlords, then once again, u make it harder for us, u make it harder for tenants, u lot really are a load of imbeciles.

I'm talking to U DWP now. Why don't u DWP, put links in this email (well not this email 'cause no one can understand it), to say here is the form u need & here is the email address u need to send it to. Simples. You have just saved MANY people from being homeless. 5 year old that plays on computer could think of that. But you with your millions overspend can't. Why not?
Make the email more English friendly that a 10 year old receiving is can understand it.

This my tenant, has now been paid TWICE two months, 2 x £395 since I reported this arrears. Plus the 2 months previous we have to wait before reporting arrears So he has now had £1,580 FREE MONEY. Yes he hasn't paid his rent. UC have gave him Taxpayers money (which the News programmes never say) to do as he likes.

Now I like this tenant, been with me 14 years, bought his previous house from him in 2004 when he was a week away from being repossessed. His previous wife still lives in that house. So I'm not gonna' evict him (yet), as I am gonna' keep emailing & writing to UC, & when they finally wake up, they should be paying me compensation for the missing rent, as they aren't allowed to pay Benefit for the same period twice, so has to be paid as compensation (More taxpayers money). I can let this go a year. The more of us Landlords do this & start complaining, eventually one day in 2020 when millions of pounds of Taxpayers money has been wasted, UC & the Govt will wake up.
We had a similar problem in 2008 when LHA came in & local Housing Benefit departments were adamant to keep paying tenants 'the rent' to keep Govt happy. Approx 2012 they woke up, realised it wasn't working, & made it much easier for us Landlords to report arrears & get paid direct in a 33.5 second phone call. Why aren't UC coming to talk to us & top HB staff for the answers? Proper thick this Govt & DWP is.

Life & business & sport are about percentages & marginal gains, more u get right, better u become, better things are, more you get wrong, a few percent suffers. UC, this few percent thousands homeless is EASY TO SOLVE!!!!

GOVERNMENT, UC, DWP, WAKE UP! You are in denial. We on the ground know what is happening & what is the fix. Publish the figures that the cost in homelessness this is causing!

Can you Landlords please sign this & forward to all your contacts.
A small hope, we have to try anything & everything.
I'm sure we not get 10k signatures, but the more Licensing & Govt start to see these things, who knows.
“Petition calling for a review of Nottingham City Councils Selective Licensing."
https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/223039

http://www.selectivelicensingtruth.co.uk/