Howdo I set up Universal credit housing element after accepting a flat from an estate agent?

John786

About to rent a flat how does it work, with housing benefit?

So lets say I get a visit and I accept the flat from the estate agent now what do I do? 





I have to message Universal Credit and ask for the housing benefit? 

So it will take them about 3 days to respond to my message. 

Do they pay the deposit? 





Do I pay the landlord the deposit and one months rent upfront or just the deposit usually? 





Do you pay the landlord  rent at the end of every month or at the start of each month?





How soon can housing benefit start paying?

Should make sure to get the ok or first payment from housing benefit first before I give them my deposit?

(I dont want to pay for the deposit then have  a hick up with the benefits not coming through leaving me without a big sum of cash)



Currently in a forest in a tent and suffering very intensely at times. Been a while since I did this.





Thanks and kind regards

OverlyAnxious

Hi,

You don't need to message anyone on the journal about this. You can just go straight to the section online about making changes to housing costs. You will then go through a few online forms asking for the new address and exact amounts of rent per month etc. You can only do this on the day you move, or after that. UC is not setup to allow future changes.

You will then be asked to provide evidence of the housing costs, this should be in the form of a rental agreement. (Ideally uploaded digitally, though you can also take a paper version to a job centre).

Universal Credit will not pay your deposit. They will only pay the monthly costs moving forward. If you do not have enough saved to pay the deposit then you can request an advance payment on your normal UC, but please be aware you will not get any extra money by doing that, it is a loan.

Different landlords use different payment setups, so you will have to wait and see which date your landlord asks you pay the rent.

Please note that this is called Housing Element from Universal Credit. Housing Benefit is a legacy benefit that was paid by the council, they are not the same thing.

You will get paid Housing Element once a month, along with your normal UC payment. It is up to you to send the rent to the landlord when required. If you do not feel comfortable doing that, you can ask Universal Credit to pay your landlord directly. For this you would need to write a message in your journal and ask for an APA (alternative payment arrangement).

Unfortunately you cannot be paid Housing Element until after you have moved into the property. So you will have to pay the deposit and one months rent before getting any Housing Costs paid from UC.

I wish you all the best with the property move. I know it looks complicated written down, but the process is not so bad in reality.

Lauren29

You may also want to contact the housing department of your local council as they may be help you a deposit particularly if you are homeless or in temporary accommodation.