A programme that allows landlords to deduct rent from tenants’ universal credit benefits without their consent will be “urgently reviewed,” by the Department for Work and Pensions.
The move comes after a judge ruled last month that a “click-screen” computer programme used by the department to process tens of thousands of deduction requests each year was unlawful.
Currently, the system automatically approves landlord requests to deduct up to a fifth of a renter’s monthly Universal Credit payments for outstanding rent repayments without them being consulted by either their landlord or the Department for Work and Pensions.
But Work and Pensions secretary Liz Kendall said yesterday that her department was “urgently reviewing this system”.
Kendall added: “I am determined to right the wrongs that have persisted in the benefits system for too long.
“The automatic approval of landlords’ requests for tenants’ benefits to be deducted is one of these.”
The programme was originally put in place to help people avoid issues with their landlords such as eviction, but the department now concedes that it may actually be pushing the poorest renters into debt.
This decision comes after a High Court ruling in January, which was won by Nathan Roberts whose benefits were deducted and automatically paid to his landlord to cover alleged rent arrears and ongoing rent payments — despite a dispute about repairs to the property.
Kendall confirmed the department will not appeal this decision.
The DWP review is expected to include other automated benefit deductions made without the claimant’s consent such as those by utility companies for the non-payment of water and fuel bills.
