Hello and welcome to March's UC blog. In this blog, I’d like to address an upcoming change that will affect all of our tenants claiming Universal Credit: April’s rent increase.
Southway has reduced its rents by 1% every year for since 2016, following government legislation.
From April this year, the government has stated housing associations can increase their rents, in line with its new rent standard. This allows for a ‘cost of living’ increase of 1.7%, plus an additional 1%. Rent increases will happen across the social housing sector as landlords raise rents in line with this new government standard.
After long and careful consultations with the Board, Southway will be applying this 2.7% rent increase in April 2020.
You can read more about the rent increase in the latest Chief Exec’s blog.
How will this affect me?
The increase in rent will be applied to all Southway tenants from the 6th April 2020. all tenants were issued a letter at the end of February detailing their new rent figures.
If you are claiming Universal Credit, you will need to report the change to your rent as a change of circumstances. Contact your work coach via your online journal, or by calling the Universal Credit helpline on 0800 328 9344.
Remember, failing to report a change could report a change to your circumstances could impact your claim, so it is vital you report your increase as soon as possible.
To more information on when to report a change of circumstances, click here.
Get in touch
If you would like more advice on reporting a change in your circumstances, or anything else regarding Universal Credit, do not hesitate to call or make an appointment. You can click here to contact me, call 0161 448 4200 or message me on Facebook.