Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform, began the recent NLA National Conference 2012 by thanking landlords for the role they have played in providing much needed housing during the recession.

The Minister took the opportunity to make the case for the Government’s policy for welfare reform, explaining how the reforms are based on the principles of fairness, affordability and making work pay. According to Lord Freud, there is a need for financial control over the benefits system and he highlighted the rise in housing benefit expenditure to 23 billion pounds in 2011, citing instances in which some tenants were claiming £100,000 in housing benefit as justification for the reforms.

The Minister also sought to allay some of the fears which have been expressed by landlords in recent months. For those claimants who are unable to manage their rent payments, for example those with mental health problems or learning difficulties, there will be an exception process in which local authorities will provide further support.

A question and answer session followed Lord Freud’s address at the conference during which many landlords raised their concerns about the implementation of Universal Credit.

David Salusbury, Chairman of the NLA, said: “Lord Freud’s address gave the landlords attending the conference a true insight into the thought processes behind Welfare Reform. The question and answer session which followed allowed landlords to give voice to their practical concerns about Universal Credit.

“Many landlords let to people on benefit, and while they support the concepts behind Universal Credit, they are worried that it appears divorced from the realities of many tenants’ lives.

“The Government is not planning to keep the system of direct payment of LHA rents to the landlord in order to secure tenancies, and delegates made clear that they believe that this means tenants are more likely to fall into arrears. This will put their tenancies at risk. Other landlords will be understandably reluctant to take on someone who has lost their home because of a poor payment record, which begs the question: who will house them then?”