Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing (1) - Parliamentary Written Answer

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will make an estimate of (a) the amount of savings accruing to the public purse through penalties incurred on housing benefit arising from the under occupancy penalty to date and (b) the amount paid in discretionary housing payments in that time. 

Esther McVey: The information is as follows.

(a) The Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy is estimated to save around £500 million per year in 2013/14 and 2014/15.

(b) In 2013/14 total discretionary housing payment expenditure by local authorities across Great Britain was £176,393,889. This figure includes amounts spent by Local Authorities over and above their government contribution in DHP funding. At the end of the financial year, 240 out of 380 LAs across Great Britain under-spent by £13,285,430 against the available Government contribution. This was in addition to the £7,111,693 unallocated from the £20 million reserve fund. Detailed information about discretionary housing payment expenditure was published in June 2014 and can be found at

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/322455/use-of-discretionary-housing-payments-june-2014.pdf