A SEETHING landlord has blasted the DWP over their ‘bag of s**t’ benefit system.

Ronnie McConnachie, 46, from Ardrossan was left out of pocket after claiming his tenant fleeced him for rent for months.

Now he says some of those claiming benefits can’t be trusted to get their money first hand and housing payment should go direct to the landlord.

However the DWP says landlords can be paid directly “where requested”, but Ronnie says this did not happen in his case.

Ronnie now is refusing to accept any tenant on Universal Credit until the system is ‘fixed’.

He said: “I had a tenant for over two years on the old system for benefits which was when landlords got paid from the housing association.

“Since Universal Credit has come in they don’t continue to do it the same way the money goes straight to the individual.

“I never got rent for six months, the guy hadn’t worked in 17 years then got paid £2,000 in cash.

“I then got a letter from the council saying I'm het for the council tax bill which he also never paid then moved out from underneath me.

“I never heard from him or the DWP and there is nothing I can do about it because he doesn’t stay there anymore.

“The Universal Credit people came back to me and said tough luck take him to small claims court, but I can’t do that because it would take about five years.

“It should be set up so this kind of thing doesn’t happen.

“For about nine months I got about £1,400 and he owed me over £3,000.

“The only person the DWP are interested in talking to is the tenant not the landlord.

“Universal credit is run like a bag of sh**.

“He will move into another flat and I can’t do anything about it.

“I want to highlight how bad the system is they have got it all wrong.

“Now I need to get another tennant but I will never take someone on Universal Credit again.

“I’m extremely p****d off.

“Landlords just have no rights.”

A DWP spokesperson said: “Under Universal Credit, landlords can be paid directly, rather than through the tenant, if the tenant is likely to have difficulty in managing their rent payments.

“In Scotland, rent can be paid directly to landlords where requested and we can pay UC to claimants more frequently to help with budgeting.”