The move to tenants receiving monthly household payments that include the Housing Costs Element of Universal Credit is a significant change compared to the separate Housing Benefit payments that have previously been paid.

Alternative Payment Arrangements (APAs) have been introduced to provide extra help for tenants:

• where there's a risk of financial harm to the claimant or their family; or
• In order to safeguard the claimant's home
• APAs can be considered at any point during the life of a Universal Credit claim and can be requested by the claimant, their representative or the landlord. An APA can be made when:
• a claimant has rent arrears totalling at least two month's rent
• a claimant has continually underpaid their rent over a period of time and they currently have at least one month of arrears

Further information can be found on the GOV.UK website (external link).