UC and rent question

[leopardprintlindt]

Sorry, posting here for traffic. If I borrow a lump sum to pay a years worth of rent, would universal credit still take my rental cost into consideration? Or am I effectively writing off that aspect of UC?

Private rented sector tenants
A Universal Credit claimant must provide evidence of their rent liability and proof that they are living in your property. If a tenant doesn’t have a written tenancy agreement or a rent book, DWP may accept a letter from their landlord or letting agent confirming the current rent and service charges.

This evidence should confirm:

tenant and landlords name, address and contact details
address of the property
date the tenancy began and how long the term is
amount of rent and how often it is paid
any deposit amounts payable
Your tenant may also ask you to confirm in writing that they are living in your property if they do not have any other evidence of this.

That is really helpful, thank you

What’s the reason paying upfront for 12 mths. What tenancy type is it.

UC is calculated on a month to month basis so if you didn’t pay any rent that month you shouldn’t be getting a payment by their logic( works that way with childcare care)
i presume if you are getting a lump sum you will be paying it off each month so technically that’s your rent payment.
the worry would be if they ask to see bank statements and see a lump sum of more than £6k it will impact your entitlement

Private rental. DH and I are divorcing, I am leaning and taking the children, staying is not an option (complicated) My theory is that I can afford repayments on a loan, but not monthly rental (London), so if I take out a loan to cover the years rent I can pay it back once the house is sold. I just wondered if I would still be entitled to UC aspect of the rent, obviously every penny counts. I do work, but only four days a week...

Even if technically the money was already spent before I applied for UC?

Ok. So the rent liability would be included in your overall assessment. However what you’d be entitled to would depends on your circumstances and earnings.

You would also need to declare your martial property and take steps to realise that asset.

This isn’t correct. It’s the monthly rent liability that matters not the frequency of how often it’s actually paid.

On the opposite side some people don’t actually pay their rent. It’s still included in their UC to pay and it’s for the landlord to chase payment from tenant of it or asked for a managed payment……

@CornishTiger I really appreciate your help, you make absolute sense. Thank you x

@leopardprintlindt

I was in a similar situation to yours.
I moved out of our marital home with my son.
Property went on the market. Ex husband continued to live there until it was sold.
I was entitled to UC as soon as I'd left the marital home.
I had to prove that the property was being sold and that it was being occupied by my ex.
As soon as I'd found a private rental property, I was entitled to UC to pay the rent also.
UC will pay your rent and other allowances for 6 months (or really as long as it takes for you to receive the capital from the sale)
It's been 18 months for me now receiving UC as the money is being held by the conveyancing solicitor and is inaccessible to me until we have reached a financial settlement in our divorce.
I'm still receiving it now.
Just call UC, get yourself set up. As soon as you have found a rental property, then all you need to do is send UC your tenants agreement etc and also proof that the capital you have is tied up in property or being held by a conveyancing solicitor until you have a financial consent order.
Hope this helps

@ThisMadeMeChuckle thank you, that's really useful to know