The £20 a week uplift in Universal Credit has been the difference between paying the bills and putting food on the table for housing association tenants in Wales – but the majority of them do not know it is temporary… Read more »
Universal credit
Welfare team secures £1m for tenants
A housing association’s welfare team has secured an additional £1 million in household income for its tenants over the last year. A report from Grŵp Cynefin also highlighted that for every £1 it spent on the service, there was a… Read more »
Grŵp Cynefin strengthens its housing team
North Wales housing society Grŵp Cynefin recently appointed four new officers to strengthen their housing staff team. Awel Morris, Catrin Lois Roberts and Rhys Edwards have been appointed as housing officers, whilst Meleri Williams is taking up the role of… Read more »
Fixing Universal Credit must remain a priority
Will Atkinson hails progress so far but the campaign continues for further changes. In February, we launched a joint campaign with our sister housing federations in the rest of the UK to reform the broken Universal Credit (UC) system to… Read more »
CHC calls for Universal Credit data sharing
Social housing tenants are being put at risk of failing to claim eligible benefits under Universal Credit because of lack of information sharing by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), according to a new warning from Community Housing Cymru… Read more »
What’s to be done about Universal Credit?
The roll-out of Universal Credit poses fundamental challenges for devolved services in Wales that demand leadership from Welsh Government, says Tamsin Stirling. Barely a week goes by without Universal Credit featuring in the media in one way or another. Stories… Read more »
Minister calls for action on Universal Credit
Housing and regeneration minister Rebecca Evans has written to UK work and pensions secretary Esther McVey to warn her about the impact Universal Credit is having on some of the most vulnerable people in Wales. The letter follows a recent… Read more »
New issue of WHQ out now
Welfare reform tops the agenda in the Winter issue of WHQ. Here’s a quick preview. In the wake of Westminster government’s u-turn on applying a local housing allowance (LHA) cap to social and supported housing, it’s back to grim reality… Read more »
Remain, remoan and rejoice
Paul Langley assesses the latest news on universal credit and the local housing allowance and argues Brexit could bring some good news. Last summer’s referendum result has rumbled on and on and continues to be a divisive topic for many in… Read more »
Our experience of universal credit
Torfaen County Borough Council is already seeing a significant impact of universal credit since the roll out to full service in July, says Elke Winton. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) reports that already over 1,000 claimants have transferred… Read more »