Under Pressure: Social Housing In The Wake Of Universal Credit

The rollout of universal credit has spurred record levels of debt among social tenants. Social landlords in the north-west, where universal credit first launched, say the programme has increased financial pressures on their organisations and pushed some providers to compromise their core values. Bolton at Home calculates that supporting tenants on universal credit costs five times more than tenants on legacy benefits. It has taken legal action against 25% of its tenants on universal credit, compared with an average of 6% across its 17,400 other homes. With housing benefit, rental officers could plan around set payment dates for each tenant. Now, as housing payments go direct to universal credit tenants, the officers spend their time coaching tenants on what to expect, pursuing late payments and micromanaging the DWP. Read more on the Guardian website.

Social Housing Rents - Playing the Percentage Game

Inflation is falling and could soon reach a negative figure – but neither tenants nor social landlords should start celebrating when it comes to rents. From April, most tenants face a typical rent rise of 2.2% – more than four times current inflation according to the consumer price index (CPI). It will be even harder in Bolton after Bolton at Home successfully applied for a waiver allowing it to exceed a new government rent formula for up to four years. For the vast majority of landlords that raise rents according to the new formula of CPI (as it stands each September) plus 1%, there is a further issue. If inflation continues falling they must reconcile what, in their eyes, are relatively low rent rises with long-term spending plans. Read more on 24dash.

UK First As Housing Association Granted 'Rent Waiver'

A housing association that owns ex-council homes in Bolton has become the first in the country to be told it can exceed the government’s new formula for rent increases. While most associations can only raise rents in April by 2.2% - a figure based around the rate of inflation last September - Bolton at Home convinced the HCA that it needed larger increases to fund stock improvements. Some of its tenants can therefore expect to pay as much as £2 per week more on top of the general 2.2% rise.  Read more on 24dash.

Bedroom Tax: Rent Arrears Laid Bare In the House of Commons

Housing associations are facing mounting problems with rent arrears as a direct result of the bedroom tax, the House of Commons has been told. Labour MPs Julie Hilling (Bolton West) and Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) revealed how social landlords in their constituencies had seen a sharp rise in arrears due to the controversial under-occupation policy. Hilling said: "Bolton at Home tells me that its arrears stand at £1.9 million, even though it has a 97% collection rate and has employed an additional 11 people to increase collection and support tenants in financial difficulty. The Minister’s policies are jeopardising his business model on social housing and the ability to build new houses and improve current stock. Can he honestly say that his policies are working?" Read more on 24dash.

'No Homelessness' Pledge Over 'Bedroom Tax'

Bolton at Home has become the first housing association in the country to introduce a “no homelessness” policy to help ease the burden of the so-called “bedroom tax”.  The organisation — which owns 18,000 properties across the borough — has pledged that no-one in Bolton will be left without somewhere to live because of the new controversial under-occupancy charge.  The policy means any tenants evicted from their home due to rent arrears accrued solely as a result of the charge — or “bedroom tax” as it has been branded by opponents — will be “guaranteed” a move to another home, as long as they co-operated to address their issues with arrears. Read more on the Bolton News website.