Universal Credit
Work and Pensions
Stephen Timms (East Ham, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how he plans that eligible service charges will be paid for under universal credit.
Steve Webb (Minister of State (Pensions), Work and Pensions; Thornbury and Yate, Liberal Democrat)
Social rented sector landlords will be responsible for setting out clearly to the tenant those charges which are allowable. The claimant will report this as part of their claim.
In the private rented sector a tenant's rent liability is usually made up of both rent and service charges with the various elements not separately identifiable. In these cases, as now, we will therefore pay the lesser of the total rent or the appropriate local housing allowance rate.