DWP system that approves landlord benefit deduction 'unlawful'

A DWP computer system that automatically gives landlords access to snatch funds from their tenants' benefits has been deemed "unlawful" by a court. A tenant, infuriated after discovering the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) had withheld £500 from his Universal Credit payment upon his landlord's request, brought forth the legal challenge.

This amount was at the heart of an unresolved dispute over property repairs. A "click-screen" program utilised by the DWP came to light, disclosing that tenants could forfeit up to a fifth of their monthly universal credit standard allowance – with rent going straight to the landlord – without any consultation with the landlord or DWP officials.

The case has significant implications for the government's increasing reliance on computers and AI to administer the benefits system, potentially reducing the need for human involvement in decision-making. Following a judge's declaration of the procedure as unfair and unlawful earlier this month, the DWP is now obliged to implement tenant protections within a system that processes thousands of requests by landlords for benefit deductions and rent diversions yearly.

The unfair process was contested in the courts by Nathan Roberts, a law graduate and former police control room worker who described the approach as "clearly arbitrary and an abuse of process". He had been engaged in a battle with his landlord, Guinness Partnership Trust, concerning their alleged negligence in property maintenance, framing the DWP's conduct as illicit.

The judge, Mr Justice Fordham, criticised the decision to pay the £460 rent portion of his benefits and a £44 deduction for alleged rent arrears directly to Guinness without consulting him. He stated it was unjust