New crisis fund to help households in fuel poverty

Scarf has partnered with Home Energy Scotland to launch a new emergency hardship fund. The fund aims to help the most vulnerable households heat their homes in these difficult times.

The Scarf Heat Fund will help provide instant access to heat for those most at risk of, or suffering from fuel poverty.

The fund can provide help and support in the form of:

• Plug-in heaters.
• Prepayment cards.
• Access to costs for emergency boiler repairs.

This is not an exhaustive list and each application will be treated on a case-by-case basis with those suffering from fuel poverty given priority.

For more information on how to reduce your energy use while at home you can check out the Scarf website or access free and impartial advice from the Scarf team by speaking to one of our experienced advisors.

 

Call Home Energy Scotland at Scarf on 0808 808 2282 for more information on how to access Scarf’s fund as well as other grants and schemes.

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Benefits advice, online calculator and Welfare Rights advice during COVID-19

Please visit the Welfare Rights service new webpage for all the latest benefit changes which have been introduced in response to the coronavirus situation.

The page also has a link to the online Benefits Calculator (above) which is free to use, available 24/7 and no personal information is stored.  You can find out about new entitlements or check if your current entitlements are correct.  The calculator can also let you know how benefit entitlements change if your income and savings change.

If you need to contact our Welfare Rights team for benefit or debt related advice then please use our website.

 

 

Understanding Universal Credit – New Website for Private Landlords

 

To help private landlords get a better understanding of Universal Credit, the Department for Work and Pensions has developed a landlord communication campaign, Understanding Universal Credit, with top tips for private landlords and details of how to apply for a managed payment.

 One important piece of information which landlords can find on the website is how to apply for a direct payment of housing costs which could protect tenancies of tenants who aren’t managing their rental payments.

Universal Credit support sessions in December

After the initial Universal Credit support sessions in November, more sessions are taking place in this month. If you or someone you know is affected by Universal Credit, please come along to one of the sessions below.

 

 

Universal Credit support sessions

Universal Credit brings lots of changes for people affected. Moving to monthly payments and having housing costs paid directly, means people have to adapt to manage their monthly payments and paying bills. The Universal Credit service is delivered online and some people may need help to understand and operate it.

To support those affected, Universal Credit advice and support sessions will take place in Angus from 5 November to 7 December.

For more details please see the timetable below:

Private Sector Landlords Bulletin

The new tenancy regime for private landlords and the roll out of Universal Credit in Angus are important changes for private landlords, so we’ve included both in a update here.

Firstly, the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016, which is expected to take effect from December 2017, will introduce a new type of tenancy. This will be known as a “private residential tenancy”. It is important that tenants and landlords are aware about changes to rights and responsibilities that will be introduced at the end of this year. The main purpose of the changes is to improve security for tenants and provide better protection for landlords.

You can find more about what the introduction of the new form of tenancy might mean for you in the Scottish Government’s guide for tenants and guide for landlords

Secondly, the full rollout of Universal Credit will change the way benefit claimants claim and receive their income, and pay their housing costs.

The guidance gives details about the changes for both private and social sector landlords.

For more information see our Universal Credit website

How Universal Credit works

The full Universal Credit service comes to Angus in November 2017.

If you’re claiming Universal Credit or want to know more about it, these practical videos from DWP give an overview of Universal Credit and how the online services work.

You can also find out more on our UC webpages.

Report Housing Benefit and Council Tax Reduction changes ONLINE

If you receive Housing Benefit and/or Council Tax Reduction you must notify us of any changes in your circumstances or change of address as soon as they happen to avoid any under or overpayments.

You can report any changes in your circumstances as soon as they happen quickly and easily using our ONLINE FORM

For the types of changes you need to report and for more information see our Angus Council website.