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Housing associations and local authorities taking part in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) direct payment pilots failed to collect more than £600,000 in rents during the first four months of the projects, according to figures released this week.
The figure is 8% of all rent owed during the scheme, involving 6,220 tenants after the launch of the programme earlier this year. The tenants were paid their housing benefits directly rather than given straight to their landlords.
The yearlong project was aiming to test number of pilot schemes with varying rent collection methods and arrears triggers in six areas of Great Britain. The amount of arrears denotes a significant increase for the housing associations and local authorities involved in the demonstrations, but were nevertheless lower than in the sector it is feared.
Welfare reform minister Lord Freud said that the direct payments of benefits would help people to step into the workplace without the many institutional barriers that now exists.
But he added that the government was always clear that exemptions must be in place alongside the right support for those who need it and the demonstration projects were showing us and the housing community the steps that must be taken.