esa to uc migration rent reduction

helping1

hello, i had a letter saying i need to change from esa to uc which i did .

i just received a note on my journal saying my rent is being paid monthly straight to the housing association but it is for only £416 .

my rent is £133 a week -which is £532 a month

on esa all i had to pay extra on the rent each month was £73 for the 1 extra bedroom tax.

so i also now have to pay an extra £43 a month to my rent.is that right?

i was on esa lcwra.

thankyou for any help

Kimi87

UC is a monthly payment and there are 4.3 weeks in a month, so you need to multiply your weekly rent by 52, then divide by 12.

That gives £576.

Your bedroom tax is £80 per month (14% of £576).

Do you have any service charges included in your rent? UC don't automatically pay all service charges.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-service-charges-guidance-for-landlords/universal-credit-service-charges-guidance-for-landlords

You could also check that your Housing Association has declared the correct rent to UC, I had an issue in April where my LA landlord told UC I was living in a 2 bed property with the corresponding rent, which was incorrect!

Failing all the above, write a note on your Journal, using the payment option, asking for a written breakdown of how they've arrived at the £416 figure.

helping1

thank you

i don,t have any extras in the rent that i pay for

does it seem wrong to you as well as me?

Kimi87

It does seem wrong to me also.

I would speak to your Housing Association and ask UC for a breakdown of how they've arrived at £416 being your eligible rent figure.

helping1

i forgot to say

i have 2 weeks free rent per year

Kimi87

I also should have asked.

What UC do with rent free weeks is work out an average across the year, then split into 12 equal payments.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-and-rented-housing--2/universal-credit-and-rented-housing-guide-for-landlords#calculating-rent

Your formula would be

weekly rent

Minus bedroom tax

Multiply by 50

Divide by 12.

I still can't get any calculation I'm doing to match UC's figure of £416 though.

helping1

thank you

have they maybe taken rent for 2 spare bedrooms instead of 1 spare bedroom do you think.

thank you for all the replys

Kimi87

It's a possibility which is why I advised you to contact your HA and check the correct information has been supplied by them to UC.