Universal credit what is it for

[Gataonly]

My friend has a house for rent and one of the people interested have provided all the required documentation very fast. But they noticed they get some money from UC which is quite a lot (between £700-900 each month) despite their salary being around £2200. They said is just a salary top up and not for housing, otherwise they won’t be able to rent in this area. I looked all over internet, my friend asked around and it doesn’t seem to fit in any criteria.
anyone knows what this benefit is for and is possible to get that much in benefits? Or is just something not quite legal? For a single person no kids.

thanks in advance

How much is her current rent?

The only way I can see a single person getting that much UC would be if they were disabled and had a very high rent.

Have they provided proof of their income? How much is the rent? Is it £2200 a month net earnings plus UC?

If someone is disabled or has a disabled child and they are in receipt of disability benefits the threshold for UC is higher- and you can still work and claim disability benefits as they aren’t means tested in themselves. It may be that they have a hidden disability. I claim PIP and don’t tell anyone at all that I do. We receive quite a bit in UC despite dh working full time with a good salary. We also have a Ds with autism we receive dla for.

You can check a universal credit calculator and with that salary it is possible depending on the amount of rent and if they have children /disability.

If they can afford it, what is the problem

You have looked all over the internet yet couldn't find out what UC is for?

OP said single no children so there will be no child disability elements and there are no extra elements for PIP, though there may be transitional protection.

On £2200 net a month there are not enough elements to get UC too with no housing costs and no TP.

Tenants just can't win, can they? Potential tenant quickly supplies required documentation including proof of income, and landlord starts querying if they are committing benefit fraud and sharing their private information with friends and the entire internet.

Your "friend" has no business disclosing privileged information about applicants to you. Hope the potential tenant finds out and sues her.

i clearly have no shared any info that can link this to anyone. And a landlord wants to know if is legit of course because it is quite difficult to evict someone these days if they can no longer afford. Instead if the landlord doesn’t pay the mortgage, would be a quicker process to lose the property.

I find it weird yes because there are people working for a lot less and not qualifying for benefits (for eg mums on maternity). So apologies if I triggered anyone, if you don’t like the post just move on

I work full time in a minimum wage job. I get salary top up, childcare expenses and will get housing allowance when I move into rented. All in I’ll be bringing in approximately £2900 including the housing allowance. I have 2 children. Unfortunately without it I can’t afford to rent as it’s £1500 for a 2 bed where I live.

I pay £150 a week for after school clubs to allow me to work, and my council tax is £140 per month. Add into that my phone contract (£8pm) broadband (£20pm) gas and electric (£180pm), car tax (£14pm) fuel (£50pm) water (£40pm) leaves me with £380 for food/uniform replacement, coats and shoes for the children, and anything else they need. I do not receive maintenance. School trips, school dinners, prescriptions for me, etc etc. it isn’t a lot.

UC is there to assist, which is exactly what it is doing for me.

It could be a problem if they're not actually eligible for UC (or only are short term eg if carer for elderly relative) and it then stops meaning they can't afford the rent. Obviously is a risk that people could lose their job or any other reason to no longer afford rent, but if they're not eligible then it's likely to be found quickly and then repayments needed reducing spare income even more.

It doesn't look right from what I've checked. Even if she's experienced DV (increases allowance) and is a carer for a relative, and rent is 1500 a month, that still would only give 68 a week as a rough guide.
I'm assuming no disability for the tenant themselves as otherwise that would have been added as income. Though worth speaking to the tenant and asking about eligibility or whether she has lumped together a pip payment amount in with UC and is actually disabled herself.

But this person doesn't have DC so doesn't have most of those costs. They'd also only have UC entitlement based on the smallest/cheapest 1 bed property, not a 2 bed one. Even on NMW, support for people without DC/disabilities is virtually nil.

Does a tenant have to declare disabilities to LL? Or if they care for someone else? I’m not sure on all the rules x