Managed migration opens to Housing Benefit only claimants and ESA (income-related) with Child Tax Credits claimants

Managed migration to Universal Credit opens in July 2024 to two further groups of legacy benefit claimants in Northern Ireland: people claiming Housing Benefit only, and people claiming Employment and Support Allowance (Income-Related) together with Child Tax Credits¹. The Department for Communities writes to claimants to notify them that their existing legacy benefit will end and to invite a claim for Universal Credit¹.

The July 2024 group follows earlier stages of the timetable. People claiming Tax Credits with Housing Benefit began receiving notices from April 2024, and people claiming Income Support from May 2024¹. People claiming Jobseekers Allowance (Income-Based) are scheduled from September 2024¹. Employment and Support Allowance (Income-Related) only, and Employment and Support Allowance (Income-Related) with Housing Benefit, are scheduled to move in 2028/29¹. The Law Centre NI document, published in February 2024, states that the timetable at that point covered Tax Credit only claimants, and that the dates above describe the position in Northern Ireland only¹.

A Migration Notice gives a Deadline Day by which a valid Universal Credit claim must be made, and claimants have at least three months from the date the notice was issued¹. The Deadline Day can be extended for good reason by contacting the Department for Communities or Universal Credit before that date, with no limit on the number of extensions¹. A Final Deadline Day falls one calendar month after the Deadline Day or extended Deadline Day, and a claim made within that month is treated as made on the Deadline Day, with Transitional Protection applying¹.

Transitional Protection is paid as a Transitional Element in the Universal Credit calculation, and it can be lost or eroded, including through changes in circumstances, a nil award for more than three consecutive monthly assessment periods due to earnings, or natural erosion as benefit rates rise¹. There is a two-week run-on of Income Support, income-based Jobseekers Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit, but no run-on for Tax Credits, and there is approximately a five-week wait before Universal Credit is paid¹. On Migration Day, capital over £16,000 is disregarded for 12 assessment periods, while capital between £6,000 and £16,000 is still taken into account¹.

Why it matters for households

Households in the July 2024 group lose their legacy award on Migration Day if no claim is made by the Deadline Day, and Transitional Protection may be lost¹. Because there is no run-on for Tax Credits and about five weeks before Universal Credit is paid, the timing of a claim affects the gap in income¹. The Transitional Element is not permanent: it falls away with certain changes in circumstances, after three consecutive monthly assessment periods with a nil award due to earnings, or gradually as benefit rates increase¹. Couples each receive their own Migration Notice and must each claim, after which the claims are linked as a joint claim using a linking code¹. Full-time students normally cannot claim Universal Credit unless they have completed a Work Capability Assessment and been found to have Limited Capability for Work, though a student who receives a notice can claim and finish a course started before the claim¹. Self-employed people migrating from Tax Credits who are gainfully self-employed get a 12-month grace period before the Minimum Income Floor applies¹. A parent claiming Child Tax Credits for a Qualifying Young Person in non-advanced education could include them until age 20, whereas under Universal Credit the cut-off is 31 August after the young person's 19th birthday; a claimant in that position should not receive a notice and can ask for it to be cancelled¹.

What happens next

Notices for people claiming Jobseekers Allowance (Income-Based) are scheduled from September 2024¹. Employment and Support Allowance (Income-Related) only, and with Housing Benefit, is scheduled for 2028/29¹. Claimants who receive a Migration Notice have at least three months to claim, and can request an extension before the Deadline Day¹.