Anyone on universal credit? Extra rent due to leap year?

[CoralMoose]

So today I had a phonecall with my landlord she told me that because of the leap-year I would have to make extra rent payments.
Universal credit will only pay for the 52 week year not 53

She said I need to pay £50 a month from this month until March,I only found out about this today

I don't understand how it's so much? It just one week?

Anyone else had this ?

Don't know how I'm going to afford it

Had a couple of interviews this week so praying I get those 🤞🏻

How much is your rent, usually?
Assume you have a private landlord not council/HA... is the housing element paid directly to your landlord?

What ?! That sound ridiculous.

I've never rented nor on UC so I'm not any help but bumping for you.

A leap year shouldn't make any difference. Especially not £50 x 6 months. Are you 100% sure you understood correctly? Ask for it in writing.

It's an extra day! Not even a week.

Lol… this can’t be real.

There has got to be some sort of miscommunication here. Just tell her no, she can try and take you to court if she wants to but she’ll lose and it will be very expensive.

Get your tenancy agreement and take it to citizens advice so they can check it. It's being a leapyear will only make a difference if your rent is weekly.

It is real see the example here

www.housingsolutions.co.uk/53-week-financial-year-what-it-means-for-you-from-april-2024/

How much is your rent op?

A leap year is one extra day!

How often do you pay your rent? I can see if you pay weekly and UC is monthly there might be an issue in that the payments for a 5 week month don't tally up - but that must happen at various points it's not just a leap year thing

Leap year is an extra day, ask her for a written breakdown of why you owe money

It's because there are 53 Mondays so 53 weeks and uc only pays for 52. There will be a week owed

This!!

But UC is paid monthly?

That's absolutely boggled me! Both that 2 days = a week and that UC aren't paying the additional rent due despite knowing it's a thing.

My Rent is only £259 a month it's a room
I'm 99% certain she said £50 a month from now until then
Rent is paid Monthly

It’s a case for social housing tenants because the rent is calculated weekly and UC won’t pay for week 53. In this case I would apply for a discretionary housing payment from the local authority to cover it but usually private landlords charge a monthly amount so it wouldn’t apply. Does that help?

Do you pay rent per calendar month? Or 4 weekly or something like that?

Sounds like she's pulling a fast one! Unless you pay less in February usually because it has less days

If you pay rent monthly, and UC comes in monthly, she's trying it on.
Also, 53 Mondays does not equal 53 weeks!

@HaddyAbrams yes there are 12 payments a year but they take the weekly rent and multiply it by 52 then divide it by 12 to give the monthly payment. But... there are 53 weeks so the payments should be multiplied by 53. Leaving a deficit.

If your tenancy agreement says you pay monthly then she's pulling a fast one.

The thing about UC is correct and applies to people who pay rent weekly.

Check your rental agreement.
Is it pcm, per week or what?

Oh... that's how the old HB worked for me (with a daily rate, so fluctuated month to month)
I get the same amount every month on UC.

So I have to pay a whole month extra just because it's a 53 week year. That's strange

I have asked for it in writing

I don't think you have to pay a whole month extra! Get her to give you a full breakdown in writing.

Its not a 53wk year. Its 52wks still, a leap year is an extra day, what is your LL on about?

I think it should be a week not a month but only if your rent is calculated weekly. Actually I don’t think it’s to do with a leap year but 52 weeks x 7days is 364days so every so often there’s an extra week accumulated. Monthly rent is the same whether the month has 28 , 30, or 31 days in it so it works differently.