Which one of the following young tenants will not be able to get help with their rent under the new rules? (Imagine we are a few months in the future!)
A. Alex is 19. He has no income and has been sleeping on his friend’s sofa since he had a big row and left his dad’s house. In May 2017 he moves into a social housing scheme for young people with mental health issues where 24/7 support is provided. The scheme is in Runcorn which has the Full (digital) UC Service.
B. Billie is 20. She had been working full time for the previous 2 months when she took on her one bedroom rented flat in May 2017, but in July 2017 she loses her job. She is looking for another job and makes a claim for Universal Credit. She lives in Bury so her UC claim is under the Live (non-digital) service.
C. Charley is 19. She had been working full time for the previous 3 months when she took on her one bedroom rented flat in April 2017, but in June 2017 she loses her job. She is looking for another job and makes a claim for Universal Credit. She lives in Taunton so her UC claim is under the Full (digital) service.
D. Davinder is 20. He was working and not claiming any benefits when he moved into his 1 bed flat in Lancaster in December 2016. But in March 2017 he loses his job. He makes a claim for UC on 25th March – it is a digital UC claim.
E. Elliot is 19. He has been claiming Income-Related ESA for the last 9 months: he is in the Work Related Activity Group. In June 2017 he gets the chance to move from his mum's house into his own flat; which is great because he has not been getting on with his mum and this has made his health worse. He has been offered a one bedroom flat, but as it is in a UC digital service area, he is going to have to claim UC instead of ESA and HB.
The answer was C: Charley - because she was making a new claim for Housing Costs after April 2017 under the UC 'Full'/Digital service and did not fall into any of the groups listed as being excluded from it.