Did you know that there is a 53 week year and it affects your Universal Credit Housing Cost payments? In 2024 is a 53 rent year ie. there are 53 Mondays. As the Association charge our rent weekly, when you get Housing Costs Element the Department of Works and Pensions will calculate your rent by multiplying the weekly rent by 52 and dividing it by 12. This means that there is one day that rent that will not be covered by Universal Credit and you will be liable to pay.
This means that a UC claimant who lives in rented accommodation and has a weekly rent, is missing out on about a day’s help with their rent from UC for each year they are on it.
This is because, when the DWP convert a weekly rent into a monthly rent and use a 52 week year, they are covering 364 days (7 x 52), but there aren’t exactly 52 weeks in a year – years are either 365 days long or 366 in a leap year. This means that if the claimant doesn’t pay that extra day themselves, this then ‘catches up’ with them on their rent account once every 5/6 years – i.e. whenever there is a 53 rent collection year due to there being 53 Mondays in a financial year.
Your landlord charges your rent weekly, but Universal Credit is assessed and paid monthly.
Because of this, Universal Credit only pays 364 days in a year, even though there are always 365 days in a year (and 366 every leap year).
So your Universal Credit it always going to be one day short each year (or two in a leap year).
The DWP work out your monthly rent by multiplying a week’s rent by 52 and dividing by 12. This would be fine if there were exactly 52 weeks rent in a year but there aren’t. There’s always an extra day in the year- or 2 in a leap year.
(For the mathematically minded, it’s because 52 times 7 is only 364).
You won’t normally notice this but every few years when the extra day falls on a Monday* it will show on your rent account as a full week’s debt.
*As this is the day your rent week starts.
Unfortunately 2024 is one of these years.
The DWP have said they won’t pay any extra Universal Credit to cover this.
If you are clearing your rent account every week or month – reducing the balance to zero – then this won’t be a problem.
But where you pay your rent every month by using the same system as the DWP (ie your weekly rent times 52 and divided by 12) then you’ll be a day short every year (two in a leap year) and will have to make up that extra.
If you think you are going to be affected by this please contact us.
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