Welfare reform and housing insecurity: the impact of Universal Credit rollout on demand for rent arrears and homelessness advice from Citizens Advice in England

Hardie, I. (2022) Welfare reform and housing insecurity: the impact of Universal Credit rollout on demand for rent arrears and homelessness advice from Citizens Advice in England. Social Policy and Society, (doi: 10.1017/S1474746422000379) (Early Online Publication)

Abstract

Universal Credit (UC) has been rolling out since 2013 to radically alter the UK welfare system. Several UC design features, and its changes to benefit generosity, can lead to claimants struggling to afford rent payments. This article uses fixed-effects panel modelling to investigate UC’s housing insecurity impacts within English local authorities (2014 Q1 - 2019 Q1) by bringing together official UC data and Citizens Advice ‘advice trends’ data on rent arrears/homelessness issues within the social/private rented sectors. The results suggest UC rollout is associated with increases in rent arrears advice issues (though not homelessness advice issues). This impact tended to be greater when UC had been rolled out for longer (and therefore reached more claimants), and was greatest in the social rented sector where people are more vulnerable to arrears. This highlights a need to increase the level of UC payments and address its long wait periods and harsh sanctions.

• Item Type: Articles
• Additional Information: This research was conducted as part of a PhD thesis and was funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) (grant number: ES/P000681/1).
• Status: Early Online Publication
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Hardie, Dr Iain
• Authors: Hardie, I.
• College/School: College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
• Journal Name: Social Policy and Society
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 1474-7464
• ISSN (Online): 1475-3073
• Published Online: 06 July 2022
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2022 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Social Policy and Society 2022
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License

Project Code	Award No	Project Name	Principal Investigator	Funder's Name	Funder Ref	Lead Dept
303166		Scottish Graduate School Science Doctoral Training Partnership (DTP)	Mary Beth Kneafsey	Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)	ES/P000681/1	SS - Academic & Student Administration