Research: Number of landlords renting to Universal Credit tenants doubles

Drawing on findings from the latest Quarterly In Focus report, an NRLA research blog has revealed that the proportion of landlords renting to tenants claiming Universal Credit (UC) has doubled over the past six years.

The number of UC claimants has risen sharply since the Covid-19 pandemic, with latest figures from the English Housing Survey saying 6.4 million people in the UK have accessed UC since January 2024 alone. 

This has had a knock-on impact on the private rented sector, with the proportion of NRLA members who rent out properties to tenants claiming UC increasing from 21% in 2018 to 43% in 2024.  

With more and more landlords now navigating the benefits system the NRLA wanted to find out more about their experiences to develop a clear picture of how the system is operating and any sticking points, with questions included in its annual Quarter 1 survey. 

Arrears  

It found that in the last six years, landlords reporting arrears with tenants claiming UC has in fact fallen, from a high of 61% in 2018 to 39% this year. 

This would suggest the administration of UC is more efficient, however many landlords said they still have ongoing frustrations with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) over the way payments are made, especially missing payments, or overpayments.  

The research found that one in 10 landlords with UC tenants who had fallen into arrears had to wait more than six months for the issue to be solved, and while there are positive signs, key challenges remain, including delays to initial claims, and the overall difficulty of the claims process itself.   

Campaigns 

The NRLA is running an ongoing campaign asking for changes to the way UC is administered to make the system work more smoothly for landlords and tenants. It is calling for: 

• an end to the five-week wait for Universal Credit at the beginning of a claim, with the existing advance payment, which is made as a loan, converted to a grant, so tenants do not automatically fall into debt at the outset 
• the housing element of Universal Credit paid directly to landlords as default and 
• permission for landlords to discuss a tenant's claim where the rent has not been paid. 

  For more information on the findings of the Q1 report, you can read a blog post by the NRLA research team here.