Guidance

Social rented sector Landlord Portal

The Universal Credit Landlord Portal allows social rented sector (SRS) landlords to verify rent, support tenants and manage payments online.

• From: Department for Work and Pensions
• Published: 6 March 2024
• Last updated: 8 October 2024 — See all updates

If you’re a social rented sector (SRS) landlord, you can use the Landlord Portal to:

• verify a tenant’s housing costs so that we can make payments as quickly as possible
• request rent payments direct from a tenant’s Universal Credit if a tenant is having difficulty paying their rent
• request deductions from a tenant’s Universal Credit to recover outstanding rent arrears
• request a change in tenant payment frequency (also known as ‘more frequent payments’)

Access the Landlord Portal

If your organisation already has a Landlord Portal account:

Landlord Portal eligibility

The Landlord Portal is only for SRS landlords, not private landlords. We cannot accept applications from SRS landlords who use management agencies. 

To be an eligible SRS landlord, your housing must be let through a local authority register or allocation process based on greatest need. It must also be let at a rent below market rate.

How to set up an account

If you meet the eligibility criteria, contact your local partnership manager who will help you start the process of setting up a Landlord Portal account. You may be asked to provide a copy of your lettings and allocation policy as part of the application process.

User accounts

When your organisation has their Landlord Portal account, you can set up new user accounts so that your colleagues can access the portal.

The user role access levels are:

• ‘Manage users’ - can set up, maintain and manage user accounts
• ‘Provide tenancy details’ - can change a tenant’s reference number and request: arrears, more frequent payments, and Alternative Payment Arrangements (APAs)
• ‘Add or remove properties’ - can manage your property list and upload it to the portal
• ‘View payments’ - can search and view payment information
• ‘Export payments’ - can search and download payment information CSV files

Only users with the ‘Manage users’ role can set up and manage individual user accounts and change permissions. There must be more than one person with the ‘Manage users’ permission level for security.

Set up new user accounts

New user accounts can be created by your organisation’s named enrolment contact or the ‘Manage users’ role. They will send new users a link to finish setting up their new account.

For security, 2-factor authentication is needed to access the portal. For this, new users will need their own unique:

• mobile phone number. This can be a personal or work mobile phone. A phone number cannot be used on more than one account.
• email address. All your organisation’s user account email addresses must have the same suffix (the part after the @ on an email address).

Team accounts are not allowed. This is for security and auditing. Landlords who use shared login details may have their portal access removed.

To keep your user account, log in at least every 90 days

For security, user accounts that have not logged in for 90 days are removed. If you have requested a password reset and do not receive password resets emails, this could be why.

To get access to the portal again, ask a user with the ‘Manage users’ role to re-create your account.

Problems receiving text message access codes

First restart your phone as this will often allow any unreceived messages to be sent to your phone.

If this does not help, ask someone with the ‘Manage users’ role to reset your mobile number. This will allow you to enter your mobile number again. You must enter your number within 20 hours of the number being reset.

User account maintenance - the Manage users’ role

To manage user accounts, select the Users tab in the portal. This is where you can add new users and manage accounts.

You must regularly review who needs access to the portal. You must deactivate any accounts that are not needed or amend user permissions.

For security, you cannot amend your own permissions, even if you have the ‘Manage users’ role.  

To change a user’s email address or name, you’ll need to deactivate their account and create a new account for them.

Tenant information

The portal will only show you tenants who have an active Universal Credit claim and be verified through the portal. It will not show tenants who have moved to another landlord.

If you cannot see a tenant on the portal this could be caused by a tenant closing their Universal Credit claim, then subsequently reclaiming, or notifying a change of address, which was not verified using the portal. 

We are looking at how we can improve verification to maximise the number of cases visible on the portal.

You cannot view a full list of your Universal Credit tenants

We are unable to share full lists of tenants linked to a specific landlord as this is not allowed under the Universal Credit regulations.

The portal only allows the sharing of data with you for specific purposes set out in the Universal Credit regulations, such as verifying housing costs. 

Tenant reference number

This should be your unique reference number that you use to identify the tenant on your systems.

The reference number must be a minimum of 3 characters and a maximum of 16.

Tenancy reference numbers can only contain the following characters:

• letters
• numbers
• the symbols ‘.’, ‘&’ and ‘/’

Change a tenant’s reference number

Users with the ‘Provide tenancy details’ role can change a tenant’s reference number.

To change a tenant’s reference number on the portal, select the Tenants tab, choose the tenant and following the steps.

Verify tenant’s housing costs (rent)

Users with the ‘Provide tenancy details’ role can verify a tenant’s housing costs.

How to verify housing costs

1. To view new rent verification requests, go to your To-do list in the main menu bar.
2. Select Provide tenancy details link.
3. Follow the to-do.
4. Enter your tenant reference number, your unique reference number that you use to identify your tenant on your internal systems.
5. Follow the rest of the to-do.

If the details you have given match the information your tenant provided, their housing costs will have been verified.

Update tenant’s housing costs

Step 1: Complete all this tenant’s to-dos

1. Go to your To-do list and complete any outstanding to-dos for this tenant. Your tenant will only appear after you’ve completed any outstanding to-dos.
2. Complete older to-dos first.
3. If the tenancy details are the same, their account will be shown in the Tenants tab in the main menu.

If tenant details do not match

If there are discrepancies in the information provided to us between you and the tenant, your tenant will get a to-do. The tenant must complete this to-do, on average this takes about 3 days (but may be longer).

If the tenant accepts the housing costs you’ve provided, their account will appear in your list of tenants. Housing costs can then be paid, or an APA can be applied for.

If the tenant does not agree with the housing costs you’ve provided, you should discuss this with them. If the amount is different to what they originally declared, they will need to make another declaration of housing costs.

Step 2: Report tenant’s current housing costs

You cannot report future changes to a tenant’s housing costs.

1. Once housing costs have been verified go to your Tenants tab.
2. Find your tenant.
3. Select Report tenant’s current housing costs.
4. Follow the to-do, providing the updated information.
5. Your tenant will get a journal message with the updated details. Your tenant may contact you about this as they will not get a verify housing costs to-do.

Housing costs automation

You can automate access to the portal to support verification of housing costs. 

Find out more about using automation to confirm housing costs.

Verifying housing costs for properties with an absent joint tenant

You can use the portal to verify housing costs for properties with an absent joint tenant.

1. Use the provide tenancy details to-do to tell us about tenancies with an absent joint tenant.
2. Answer Yes to Is this person your tenant and liable for rent at this address?, then complete the to-do.
3. We will verify the information and calculate the correct housing payment for the tenant remaining in the property.
4. The tenancy will stay on the portal.

The process is the same for:

• changes of circumstances tenants have told us about due to annual rent changes
• changes to housing costs that are not part of annual rent changes

You will not need to email a manual SRS form.

Verifying specified accommodation

You must reject specified accommodation requests through the portal. Specified accommodation is not eligible for Universal Credit housing costs as it is eligible for Housing Benefit.

Manage direct rent payment APAs

If a tenant is having trouble managing their money, their Universal Credit housing costs could be paid straight to their landlord. This is known as an Alternative Payment Arrangement (APA) managed payment to landlord, also known as a direct rent payment.

Apply for APAs and rent arrears deductions 

You can request an APA if your tenant meets any of the tier 1 or 2 criteria.

Once your tenant’s housing details have been verified, you can request an APA or rent arrears deduction.

1. Go to your Tenants tab.
2. Find your tenant.
3. Select Request alternative payment arrangement or rent arrears deduction.
4. You must select a tier 1 or tier 2 reason for your request.
5. The tenant receives a notification and journal message to confirm the changes.
6. We’ll process the APA or rent arrears deduction before the end of the tenant’s assessment period.

Once you’ve requested an APA or rent arrears deduction using the Landlord Portal, you should not submit further requests using the Apply for Direct Rent Payments service.

APAs and rent arrears deductions are usually in place within 7 working days. If you have not received a confirmation 15 working days after requesting one, contact the Universal Credit Service Centre.

For claims with the status ‘closure of claim pending’, you will not be able to request an APA or rent arrears deduction and will not be able to report any changes of housing costs.

View APAs 

APAs can be viewed by the ‘View payments’ role. 

To view payment information, select the Payment tab in the portal. You can search by claimant name or reference number and by date range. 

The ‘Export payments’ role can download statements as a CSV spreadsheet file. This file includes the payment reference number, payment due date, assessment period start date, assessment period end date, and the amount. 

All APAs will be included in the portal payment details for your landlord. 

Payments are made by BACS transfer Monday to Friday, excluding bank holidays, to the bank account used to set up your Landlord Portal account. 

You will receive one payment per tenant in each assessment period. Each payment will include the payment reference, this is the Tenancy ID provided by you. Where payments were created by Universal Credit manually, this reference may be replaced by the claimants National Insurance Number (NINO). 

Depending on your IT systems and bank provider, information may be displayed differently. 

If you have not been paid an APA as expected, contact the Universal Credit Service Centre.

If a payment is visible in the portal but you have not received it, email DWP Payment Services: [email protected].

Cancel an APA or rent arrears deduction

To cancel an APA or deduction, contact the Universal Credit Service Centre.

Update your property list

You can manually upload your property address lists to the portal.

Do not include:

• temporary accommodation
• specified accommodation
• housing let through a local authority housing register or allocation process which is not based on greatest need
• housing let at a rent above market rate

You should update and upload your property lists when there is a change to your property portfolio, for example:

• you buy a new property
• you sell a property
• a property changes specification to become temporary accommodation
• a property changes specification to become a ‘general needs’ accommodation

How to upload your new property list

1. Export your file to Excel.
2. Remove properties used for temporary accommodation and supported exempt accommodation.
3. Your data must include only 2 columns: one for the first line of address, and one for the postcode.
4. Remove any spaces before or after any of the data.
5. Save as tab delimited text or text (tab delimited) and remove any blank lines.
6. Go to the Landlord Portal and select Properties. If you have not been given access to this, talk to your named enrolment contact.
7. Select Choose file. Once you’ve chosen the new properties file, select Upload.

Annual rent changes

SRS tenants must complete a ‘Confirm your housing costs’ to-do within their Universal Credit account  every year. This to-do is added to your tenants’ Universal Credit online account automatically.

Tenants charged rent monthly can complete the to-do from 1 April. If they’re charged rent weekly or at other frequencies, they will receive this to-do from the first Monday in April.

We ask if their housing costs have changed. If they have, they must provide their updated housing costs. You can verify these through the Landlord Portal.

Annual rent change details are published in the ‘Updates’ section of the Landlord Portal.

Change of landlord details and mergers

Landlord name or address

If your organisation changes its name or address, complete the ‘Form to change the name or address of a creditor or supplier’ and contact your local partnership manager. They will be able to provide support in making changes.

Bank details

To change your organisation’s bank details, complete the Form to change the bank details of a creditor or supplier.

Email address

If your organisation’s email suffix is changing, contact your partnership manager.

Property transfers

If you’re transferring properties from one landlord to another, there are different steps depending on whether the new landlord is on the portal or not.

If the new landlord is on the portal

The following steps should be taken by you and the landlord the property is being transferred to: 

1. The landlord who is transferring the properties ‘out’ should remove the properties from their property upload file and update their property list on the portal. 
2. The landlord who is transferring the properties ‘in’ needs to add the properties to their property upload file, and update their property list on the portal. 
3. Both landlords should advise the transferred tenants to declare a change of housing details once steps 1 and 2 have been followed.

If transferred tenants have been successfully matched, the portal will send new verifications to the new landlord and move the tenants over. 

If the new landlord is not on the portal

If you’re transferring properties to a landlord who does not use the portal, follow these steps:

1. The landlord who is transferring the properties ‘out’ should remove the properties from their property upload file and update their property list. 
2. Both landlords should advise the transferred tenants to ‘declare a change of housing details’.

The new landlord who is not on the portal will verify housing costs by email.

APAs and change of landlord

When a tenant’s landlord changes, any APAs will be cancelled. The receiving landlord will need to consider if an APA is needed and re-apply if necessary. 

Mergers

If your organisation is merging, thinking of merging or has already merged, contact your partnership manager as soon as possible. If you’re unsure who your partnership manager is, you can contact them by emailing the DWP Partnership Teams.

You do not need to know the exact dates of the merger. But the sooner you make contact, the sooner we can advise you of any actions that you need to take and agree next steps.

Support

Landlord Portal access

If you cannot access the portal, contact your local partnership manager.

Errors

If you have verified housing costs in error, contact the Universal Credit Service Centre.

Payment awards

Any queries relating to the amount of any payment received, or a payment not being issued, should be directed to your local Universal Credit Service Centre Helpline, or escalated to your partnership manager.

Payment issues

For issues relating to the receipt of payments, email [email protected].

Third party payments

What to do if:

• third party payment schedules or payments not received. Email DWP Payment Services: [email protected]
• rent or arrears for a tenant not received, or payment at a lower rate than expected.
  Contact the tenant to discuss their Universal Credit award for that period. You cannot request a rate of arrears recovery change using the portal.
• your tenant wants to discuss changes in the rate of arrears. The tenant should request this using their Universal Credit online journal.
• a deduction of arrears request confirmation not received.  Contact the Universal Credit Service Centre
• queries relate to payments of arrears or corrections to underpayments, these will continue to be made using the existing Third Party Payments Service. Email [email protected].

Find out about how the deductions from benefit scheme works.

Published 6 March 2024
Last updated 8 October 2024 + show all updates

1. 8 October 2024

   You can use the same process as 'housing costs that are not part of annual rent changes' to tell us about absent joint tenants. You can also request APAs and rent arrears deductions using the Apply for Direct Rent Payments service.

2. 26 March 2024

   When you upload your new property list, you need to remove properties used for temporary accommodation and supported exempt accommodation. You do not need to remove shared ownership properties.

3. 6 March 2024

   First published.