The “national roll-out” of Universal Credit will now only see the new system running at a handful of JobCentres across the UK this year, ministers confirmed.
Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, insisted that Universal Credit remains on track and will fully operational by 2017. A more gradual timetable means the reform will be delivered “safely,” he said.
Private landlords will be breaking the law if they let to illegal immigrants without first doing checks.
Penalties would be £1,000 per tenant for a first offence, and £3,000 for a repeat offence. Landlords with HMOs could lose their licences. The penalties would also apply to letting agents.
Nearly 100,000 private tenants are now more than two months behind on their rent, according to figures published today.
During the second quarter of 2013, the number of tenants in severe arrears rose by 3.3% (to 98,000) on the previous three months, LSL Property Services reports.
Census figures newly released show that the number of private tenants has doubled, while the proportion who own a home has fallen sharply.
The figures from the Office of National Statistics show that one in five families in England – equivalent to 1.2 million households – was renting from a private landlord in 2011, a number that has doubled since 2001.
Monthly rents will hit an average of £800 in England and Wales in two years’ time, while one in five people will be living in private rented accommodation.
The claims came from Lucy Jones, operations director at LSL, speaking at a Council of Mortgage Lenders conference.
A letting agent has been ordered by a court to pay £41,200 after admitting 13 offences at five Houses in Multiple Occupation.
Strats Estate and Letting Agents of Hatfield, Hertfordshire, was taken to court by Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council.
The amount of rent money owed by private tenants in England and Wales fell 2.1 per cent during May, according to a network of lettings agents.
LSL Property Services in its latest buy-to-let index out today shows the total amount of late or unpaid rent decreased to £276 million last month, compared to £282 million in April.
Young people across the UK face being locked out of the property market for an average 14 years, new research has revealed.
The report, from housing charity Shelter, shows that would-be first-time buyers with families could face a wait of more than a decade before they can get themselves on the property ladder.
Landlords have expressed their deep concern over the impact of Universal Credit on the private rented sector.
Most (70%) of those who let to tenants currently in receipt of Local Housing Allowance said they are worried about the welfare changes.
Tenants are continuing to vote with their feet in the most expensive parts of London, by moving out to cheaper areas.
Agents are reporting the ongoing exodus, amid an over-supply of properties, with landlords having to freeze or cut rents.