There will be 53 Mondays in the financial year from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 instead of the usual 52, with the last Monday on 31 March 2025. This is known as a 53 week year.
The reason for the extra days is because if you multiply the seven days in a week by 52, it adds up to 364 days – not 365, which is how many days there are in a year.
These extra days accumulate to add another week to the year every five to six years which means there are 53 Mondays in the year, which is 53 rent weeks instead of 52.
Housing rent is calculated weekly, starting on a Monday. So, when there are 53 Mondays in a year, there is an extra week of rent to pay.
This will impact all of our customers, whether you pay rent weekly or monthly.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) only pay up to 52 weeks of rent per year and they work out the weekly rent for those on Universal Credit by taking the total yearly amount and dividing it by 52 weeks. For example, £5,200 per year divided by 52 weeks is £100.00 per week rent.
Unfortunately, the DWP will not pay for the 53rd week. This means you will need to pay for the additional week yourself.
To reduce the impact, we recommend you pay a little bit extra each week over the year. For example, if you pay £100 a week for your rent, you could divide this by 53 weeks and pay an extra £1.89 a week for 53 weeks.
Get in touch and have a conversation with us so that we can help you out. Or get lots more answers to questions about 53 weeks and your rent on our FAQ web page.
