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Welfare reform minister Lord Freud says Universal Credit claimants could keep fortnightly payments for up to two years with their cases reviewed periodically.

Delivering a speech at the Centre for Responsible Credit Annual Conference earlier this week the minister said the Government was still developing guidance on exceptions to monthly payments – following concerns claimants would struggle to move from fortnightly payments. 

Social landlords are in talks with internet service providers in a bid to arrange free online access for tenants ahead of the introduction of universal credit.

From October 2013, a range of benefits will begin to be merged into one monthly payment, administered by a central IT system. This has led to concerns that tenants without internet access may struggle to manage their claims as the government expects most claims to be made online. 

The number of households renting privately has increased by nearly 50% in just five years, according to a new report, which estimates that an additional £57bn funding will be needed per year if the sector is to provide the homes needed to meet demand.

The Jones Lang LaSalle report, however, notes the positive moves by Government - through the Montague Review and changes to the Real Estate Investment Trust structures - to reduce the barriers to institutional investment in the sector. 

Homelessness charities have welcomed a decision by the Department for Work and Pensions to exclude supported accommodation from universal credit.

Charities had raised concerns that universal credit, which combines a number of benefits including housing benefit from 2013, would not take into account the extra costs of providing supported housing. Under the current system, an ‘exempt accommodation rule’ means the extra cost of managing accommodation for a vulnerable person is taken into account. 

A unique social housing survey has found landlords can helps tenants save around £40 per month by offering one-to-one financial skills training.

Analysis of the training involving 150 tenants over nine-months and launched today by national charity Citizens Advice found 71% of tenant learners reported higher financial confidence – compared with just 13% of a comparison group. 

Cyberfraud and identity theft pose the most serious threat to the implementation of the government's welfare reforms, a government minister said as he outlined potential problems facing the project during the final months of development.

Lord Freud, parliamentary under-secretary of state for welfare reform, said online security was a risk to the introduction of the universal credit. The department was focusing on identity and potential cyberfraud to make sure the system was "utterly robust". Security systems developed by banks were being adopted, and the government was in talks with Amazon to learn from its online security measures, he said. 

Welfare reform minister Lord Freud says benefit claimants used to being paid fortnightly will be able to opt in for an advance payment to bridge them on to the monthly system of Universal Credit.

Universal Credit will be rolled out over four years from October 2013 and will see claimants receive a single monthly payment in arrears in replace of six income-related benefits, including housing benefit, tax credits etc. 

Families should be able to ‘opt in’ to an online budgeting tool under the new Universal Credit, which allows them to determine the direction and frequency of benefit payments, according to a think tank.

The Social Market Foundation (SMF) report 'Sink or Swim' warns Universal Credit is at risk of “backfiring” and shows that the changes - including monthly payments and housing benefit paid to claimants in the social rented sector from next October - will leave many households struggling to cope.

The Government should create a set of standards for ‘Budget Accounts’ (jam jars) – which safeguard rental income for housing associations – allowing financial providers to deliver them for tenants in return for initial subsidies.

That’s the conclusion of an in-depth report, commissioned by the National Housing Federation (NHF), into the banking products needed by social housing tenants for Universal Credit. 

The government's flagship welfare reform programme is heading for "disaster", its "poverty czar" Frank Field has warned.

Writing in The Guardian, the Labour MP says Universal Credit will not simplify benefits as planned and will instead "rot the soul" of the low paid.