The final report on the Direct Payment Demonstration projects has been released. The overall aim of the projects was to highlight key lessons and learning points in terms of the direct payment of Housing Benefit (HB) to feed into UC design ahead of its introduction; exploring the effects of direct payment on landlords and tenants; examining the effectiveness of the different types of support provided to tenants to help them prepare for and manage direct payment; and testing direct payment safeguard mechanisms for landlords. The six projects were Oxford; Shropshire; Southwark; Torfaen; Wakefield; and Edinburgh. Projects were live between June 2012 and December 2013. Key findings were that the amount of rent paid was 95.5% owed(not as little as initially feared) and '... of a distinct and significant drop in rent payment rates when tenants first migrated to direct payment. Payment rates then improved dramatically over time.'
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