Briefing Note on Removal of Automatic Entitlement to Help with Housing Costs under Universal Credit for 18-21 year olds

Key Points

Under legislation effective from the 1st April 2017, 18-21 year olds in the United Kingdom will no longer have automatic entitlement to housing costs under Universal Credit. This change is only applicable to new claimants of Universal Credit aged between 18 and 21 years old and who are living in Universal Credit full service areas. There are currently five such areas in Scotland. This policy change does not apply to young people currently claiming housing benefit.

Initial estimates from Centrepoint suggest that between 900-1000 young people in Scotland would be negatively impacted by this cut.

Some young people will be exempt from the measure but these exemptions do not go far enough and for those affected, the impacts could be catastrophic.

Shelter Scotland welcomes the Scottish Government's plan to mitigate the cut through Scottish Welfare Fund, however this is on an interim basis and a sustainable solution must be found.

The Cabinet Secretary for Communities, Social Security and Equalities announced the intention to halt the implementation of Universal Credit due to the detrimental impact it was having on households, however this has been rejected by the Department for Work and Pensions.