23 November 2017
Autumn Budget, November 2017 – Universal Credit measures
In his Budget, The Chancellor announced several measures relating to Universal Credit (UC) amounting to a £1.5 billion package of changes in order to address some of the recent concerns raised about the impact of UC roll-out on claimants.
The changes include:
- An interest-free advance of up to a month’s worth of universal credit within five days of the claim, for those who need it and who have an underlying entitlement to universal credit. Also, the recovery period for these advances will be extended from the current six months to twelve months. This will be in place from January 2018.
- From February 2018, the seven day waiting period will be removed, so that entitlement to universal credit starts on the first day of the application.
- From April 2018, those already on housing benefit will continue to receive their award for the first two weeks of their universal credit claim.
- It will be easier for claimants to have the housing element paid direct to their landlord.
The official Budget documents are available via the GOV.UK website
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