The DWP has officially announced details of its migration of people in receipt of legacy benefits onto universal credit (UC). Private sector landlords will need to be aware of this process as it will affect any whose tenants are (or were) still receiving the old style benefits such as income support and housing benefit.

The benefits and credits being terminated are:

• Child tax credit
• Housing benefit
• Income support
• Income based job seekers allowance (JSA)
• Income related employment & support allowance (ESA)
• Working tax credit

The announcement states that affected people will receive a "Migration Notice" letter from DWP saying when their benefits will be terminated (usually within 3 months of receiving the letter) and by what date the must apply for UC. It makes no mention of any support for vulnerable people on legacy benefits.

Meanwhile, the chartered institute of housing (CIH) has said that it has joined the call by numerous charities to "halt the process until further safeguards are in place" for vulnerable people and that it is one of the signatories to the open letter to the secretary of state for work and pensions. The institute points out that most non-vulnerable people have already been migrated to UC and that "many of the people still to be migrated are long term claimants - often severely disabled. The largest group is made up of 1.15 million support allowance claimants, of which 700K get help with their rent."

The CIH calls for assurances from Govt that the migration notice should not be subject to an absolute time limit - benefits should be able to be restored if the [UC] application is late; that out of time claims should not lose transitional protection and that every effort should be made to contact claimants both before and after notice is served (an aspect social landlords can assist with).

Given these concerns from reputable organisations it would be good sense for any private landlords with vulnerable tenants to ensure their tenants know of this change to the benefit system and that if the tenant needs assistance, to contact their local council well being team or an organisation such as the CAB for signposting or advice on their benefits.

A copy of the open letter to the DWP secretary is also on the CIH's page linked to above.