More behind on rent in Doncaster because of Coronavirus
The pandemic's accelerated a rise in Universal Credit claimants
Last updated 20th Feb 2021
Council bosses in Doncaster have said the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the rise in Universal Credit claimants.
New figures show there are nearly 2,000 extra claimants in just 12 months. Universal Credit (UC) has to be collected directly from residents instead of the previous system where housing benefits were paid directly to St. Leger Homes.
Reports seen by councillors show by the end of December 2020, 6,300 people were claiming UC compared to 4,305 on the previous 12 months.
The number of people behind on their social housing rent has also increased. Of the 6,300 residents claiming UC, 2,776 or 44 per cent, are in arrears.
Statistics reveal that St. Leger is owed more money in rent since April 2019 and arrears stand at 3.39 per cent.
But rules banning eviction of people behind on their rent have been extended following an earlier announcement by Government at the back end of 2020.
Despite the restrictions from the pandemic, St. Leger bosses said the organisation is in a ‘strong position’ going into the final quarter of the financial year.
Nigel Feirn, head of finance and business assurance, at St. Leger Homes, said: “There has been an accelerated uptake of Universal Credit due to the pandemic and so it’s likely we will reach full capacity of the managed migration of cases from housing benefit to UC earlier than anticipated.
“In terms of the current legal situation, the national restrictions on evictions and legal action have been extended again and will now remain in place until at least February except for the most serious anti-social behaviour cases.
“Despite the restrictions imposed since March, we have continued our ‘business as usual’ approach to take every opportunity to recover the arrears position this year with robust arrears pursuance work, balanced with excellent advice to support tenants to be able to pay their rent.
“We continue to take advantage of the increased Local Assistance Scheme (LAS) and Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) available for any Covid-related arrears cases, as well as advising affected tenants of the Government’s new Job Support Scheme as well as the Test and Trace Support Payments.”