Housing Rent Issues and Universal Credit System: A Report

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ASSESSMENT THREE
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Executive summary
The major indulgence of the study is to highlight problems that arise due to the high risen rent
cost. Along with this, it has also been described about the residents who are not satisfied with the
services that are been provided to them. The role of Universal Credit system in term of housing
rents is also discussed.
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Residents are dissatisfied with the responsive repairs service.........................................................3
The level of rent arrears is rising due to the introduction of Universal Credit................................5
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8
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Introduction
The prime focus of this study is to highlight the issues that are faced by the residents or the
tenants in terms of housing capital. Along with this, it has also been discussed about the role of
management board in highlighting the issues and ways to handle the issues in a better manner. It
has also been explained about the responsibilities of a counsellor for handling the issues that are
faced by the residents. Along with this, it has also been described about the role of a policy
officer for Silvertree Housing Association. Moreover, use of appropriate legislations is also taken
into consideration.
Residents are dissatisfied with the responsive repairs service
It is necessary for the landlord to provide appropriate services to the tenants. It must be the major
concern of the landlord to ensure about proper safety of the tenants. It is mandatory to provide
convenient, customer-oriented and flexible services to the residents. Along with this, it is also
necessary to maintain the repair services and give priority to the housing stock. Meeting the
contractual and legal obligations of the Council is the most major factor required to be
underpinned. The principles of health and safety and other equal opportunities must be provided
to the residents. The quality standard of the services must also be provided along with health
principles and practices. This can be helpful for maximising the financial benefits for the
landlords (Akbar et al., 2017). The residents or the tenants would agree to pay the cost only if the
services seem effective to them. Creating training and employment opportunities for maintaining
work related services must also be a major concern. Measurement and monitoring of the
customer satisfaction is also important and use of continuous improvement of the services is also
required.
Current issues faced responsibilities of residents
Nowadays, it is observed that tenants or the residents are facing issues regarding dissatisfaction
towards inappropriate responsive repair services. However, in order to get over this, it is the core
responsibility of the residents to report about the issues that are being faced by them. They must
allow access to their house for work proceedings. Lack in appropriate care and concern towards
such issues can cause great harm to the residents. The residents are allowed to make amendments
within their home when required; the minor can be transformed by the residents themselves. This
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is pre-defined in the Tenancy Agreement and the Tenant Handbook (Gov.uk, 2019). However,
the residents are responsible for allowing the access to their respective homes for carrying out
certain work procedures and thus, on basis of this, future work can be programmed.
Responsibilities of Council
Depending on the above-mentioned issues, accentuated below are certain responsibilities of the
Council as per the Tenancy Agreement and the Tenant Handbook:
● Providing responsive repairs
● Cyclical and planned maintenance
● Re-chargeable repairs
● Repairing empty properties
● The right to repair
● Right to carry out and claiming compensation for the improvements done
● Adaptations to the Home of the disabled residents
Legislations
Apart from the above mentioned Council’s responsibility, there are certain legislations that are
required to be implemented, this involves:
● Landlord and Tenant Act 1985
● Defective Premises Act 1972
● Housing Acts 1985,1988,1996,1998 and 2004
● Decent Homes Standard
● Tenancy agreement and Tenants’ Handbook
● The Secure Tenants of Local Authorities (Right to Repair) Regulations SI. 1994 No 133
● Equalities Act 2010
● Control of Asbestos Regulations, 2006
● Disability Discrimination Act 2005
The above mentioned legislations can be implemented for planning and developing proper
maintenance plan. Furthermore, the legislative acts can be useful for making the landlords
understand the legal proceedings. This can also provide authority to the residents about seeking
their own rights (Gov.uk, 2019). This can also make the residents aware of their legal rights and
obligations. Knowledge about this can be beneficial for stimulating equality and eradicating the
disability. Furthermore, enabling tenant choice is also the most integral factor that is required to
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be implemented while offering the property to the tenants. Choices like colour of the house,
internal woodwork, titles, style of the doors and colour and pattern of the walls.
Being policy officer for Silvertree Housing Association, it the core responsibility to ensure about
the mitigating of the issues that are faced by the residents. For instance, once a tenant came for
taking a property over lease, on the day of the shifting, it was noticed that ceiling of the dining
room has a leakage somehow from the above floor. This was informed to the landlord,
henceforth, he claimed that, as the property has now be on lease, all the internal issues have to be
fixed by the tenant himself. In such cases, the residents must put forth the Agreement for the
Tenant Handbook, where the responsibility of the residents as well as the Council has been
described. As per the legal regulations, it was in the part of the landlord to ensure that the flat did
not have any issues before the tenants shifted. In such case, some arrangements can be done as
per the guidelines of the agreement that was prepared at the time of booking.
The level of rent arrears is rising due to the introduction of Universal Credit
It has been claimed that there has been massive spike in the rent arrears due to the introduction of
the Universal Credits. This new scheme has led many families to problems and had caused major
issues for them to get roof over their head. The Department for Work and Pensions insisted that
many people were distressed by the huge increase in the rent before they were switched to
Universal Credit. However, many people were found to be relied on the advance payments or
loans for paying their rents. Universal credits are useful for helping people with their living
costs. This makes them pay their liabilities monthly or twice a month. Below are the benefits that
have been replaced by Universal Credit:
● Housing benefits
● Child tax benefits
● Income support
● Income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
● Working tax credit
● Income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
People who are in use of the above stated benefits cannot claim for the Universal Credit
simultaneously. Universal Credit has been introduced in stages across UK. The Department for
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Work and Pensions would suggest about the Universal Credit only under changing
circumstances.
Conditions for claiming Universal Credit:
In case of severe disability premium or people who are entitled to it, cannot claim for Universal
Credit. If a person has certain circumstances that is affecting the severe disability premium then
the person is asked to report and he/she will be informed about the next step (Gibb, 2015).
The Universal credit system is evident for pushing the poor residents or tenants deeper into rent
arrears. Southwark and Croydon in South London warned people about the rapid changes that
were occurring due to the system. This has lead towards devastating condition of the people all
across the country.
Landlords with tenants claiming Universal Credit
In case a resident is entitled to Universal Credit, they would get an amount for housing and this
is paid to the landlord of the house. The system of Universal credit does not pay the housing cost
for the residents. In order to be getting helped for the housing cost, a tenant must be eligible for:
● Paying rent for the property
● Liable for the property
● Live in the property
When the tenant is not eligible for direct payments, they have rent arrears, paying rent arrears,
budgeting loan and the universal credit payment is split between two members of the household.
In case of transitional payment, tenant has to get housing benefit for claiming the Universal
credit. It is necessary to have proper evidences for the housing cost of the tenant that includes
their rent charge and service charge (Gibb, 2016). When universal credit contacts a landlord, it
does not let the tenant know about the housing cost; instead the tenant will be asked for bank
related information for receiving direct information. In order to calculate the housing universal
credit can be calculated by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 weeks by dividing it by 12 months.
Universal credit is calculated on a 52 weeks basis and the monthly payment is calculated on this
basis, accordingly.
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Conclusion
From the above study, it can be concluded that there are several issues that are faced by the
housing tenants and thus, accordingly the landlords have to develop their plans for providing all
the necessary services to them. The study has also incorporated about the necessary
responsibilities that are required to be followed by the Counsellors. It has also been put forth
about the responsibilities that have to be fulfilled by the tenants as well. Furthermore, the level of
rising rent due to the Universal Credit system has also been taken into consideration.
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References
Akbar, F.H., Pratiwi, R., Samad, R. and Fanissa, F., 2017, October. Patient satisfaction on health
service center in urban and rural area. In Health Science International Conference (HSIC 2017).
Atlantis Press.
Gibb, K., 2015. The multiple policy failures of the UK bedroom tax. International Journal of
Housing Policy, 15(2), pp.148-166.
Gibb, K., 2016. Housing benefit: slow on the take-up?. Contemporary Social Science, 11(1),
pp.40-51.
GOV.UK. (2019). Universal Credit. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit
[Accessed 24 May 2019].
Stroud.gov.uk. (2019). Available at:
https://www.stroud.gov.uk/media/1988/repairs_policy.pdf#page=4&zoom=100,0,0 [Accessed 24
May 2019].
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