What does this mean for Universal Credit claimants?
A typical year is only 52 weeks, but this is not the case in this financial year that started on 1st April 2024, as there will be 53 Mondays.
When deciding how much Universal Credit (UC) should be allocated to an individual, the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) calculate monthly rent by multiplying a week’s rent by 52 weeks for our tenancies. They would then divide this by 12. This is still the case even when there is an extra week in the year.
This means that the monthly UC payments you receive will not cover the monthly rent in 2024. So, you will need to work out the shortfall and pay this.
Example
What UC calculate
£100 per week X 52 weeks charges divided by 12 months = Monthly payment due £433.33
What we change
£100 per week X 53 weeks charges divided by 12 months = Monthly payment due £441.67
Monthly shortfall
In this scenario, there is a monthly shortfall of £8.34 equating to a week’s rent of £100 over the course of the 12 months.