A report published today by Citizens Advice Scotland (CAS), which considers the causes and consequences of this rise, finds that changes to the social security system have been one of the key drivers of the problem, in particular Universal Credit.

The report notes that the increase covers the period in which Universal Credit has been rolled out, and presents a number of case examples which illustrate the typical links between the two.

Citizens Advice Scotland’s findings include:

Case studies included in the report highlight the how clients have suffered due Universal Credit admin delays and the length of wait for the first payment.

In the west of Scotland, a client received a call from his local authority landlord stating that he has rent arrears of £641. The client was aware of some arrears, but it seems that his direct housing payment from Universal Credit was not made to the council, despite being deducted from his Universal Credit award, so his arrears have increased by £309. When the CAB adviser contacted the local authority housing team they advised that this is “a common problem” and there are lengthy delays with the local authority receiving the payments from the DWP.

A woman in the south of Scotland stopped work three months ago, due to stress and bullying. The gap between the Universal Credit assessment period and when she last received her wages, meant she had no payments for a month. She had £30 to last her for four weeks and was being called “constantly” by her housing association regarding a week’s rent arrears.

The high cost of temporary accommodation rent was also among the most common reasons for rent arrears.

In the west of Scotland, a woman who is living in temporary homeless accommodation found that her housing benefit does not cover the full costs of her rent. Her arrears are accruing on a weekly basis but she works part-time and pays a lump sum towards the debt when she can. She has applied for Discretionary Housing Payment twice but she was been declined on both occasions.

CAS recommendations for action to help reduce the problem include action to:

CAS spokesman Rob Gowans said: “The rise in rent arrears is one of the most worrying trends we see across the CAB network at the moment. While there are a number of factors driving this, we have no doubt that the flaws in Universal Credit are one of the main ones.

“For the past 18 months we have been calling for a halt and fix to Universal Credit. Some welcome changes have been made but many of the problems still remain and this report shows the impact these are having on peoples’ lives.

“We have set out again today the key flaws that need to be addressed, including reducing the waiting period before payment, cutting out processing delays and reducing deductions. These are relatively simple changes that could make a huge difference to millions of people.

“In our report we also set out other causes of rent arrears, such as rent increases, low wages and lack of support for those in need. All of these need to be addressed as well as Universal Credit, and we will continue to work to highlight these problems and help find solutions.”