The DWP have published some survey data to get an idea of the challenges ahead when Universal Credit comes in:

I like IDS - he wants people on full and partial housing benefit to take more responsibility for themselves, he wants to pay them directly and let the tenant pay the landlord, he wants to pay them monthly as well like most working people.

The summary is at .
http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/asd5/summ2011-2012/822summ.pdf
and it looks like the average housing benefit claimant is in a sorry state -
Currently 'in the majority of cases, Housing Benefit is paid directly to landlords'
'Almost four in ten said it would be ‘difficult’ to ‘manage their finances’ if Housing Benefit was paid directly to them'
'25 per cent of all tenants had run out of money before the end of the week or month ‘very often’ during the previous year'

There are plans to give people money management counselling but -
'money management and budgeting support provided to tenants by landlords and local agencies. However, this support is likely to be relatively resource intensive'
Too right, meaning it will be intensive with a 'substantial minority' of tenants reckoning they'll need their metaphorical hand holding for them long-term.

There is now an option to back out and go back to direct payments to landlords - 'the Government is designing UC to include support for tenants (including assistance with budgeting and money management) and safeguards for landlords (for example, a mechanism for ‘switching back’ the payment of Housing Benefit to the landlord, or exemption from direct payments for people particularly vulnerable to accruing arrears)'

In Northern Ireland it's already been decided that the housing element of Universal Credit will go direct to landlords, and that claimants can be paid fortnightly rather than monthly, but in NI people behind on rent would get treated in a special way not customarily available to GB landlords and this is best avoided.

It looks to me a fair bet if it was available that the DWP will go down the NI route for the mainland too at some point, but I still think promoting more responsible financial planning is worth a try.