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Housing Benefit

We are focusing specifically on the roll-out of these changes over the next two years. Over that period, before universal credit comes in, this mechanism will be in place. Clearly, there is plenty of time to work out ways of underwriting the rent to the landlords combined with the universal credit. The crucial point is that this is a transitional issue, although there are longer-term aspects as well. It is in this transition—the crucial period in which the housing market adjusts—that the mechanism will be most effective.