Nine In 10 Homes Unaffordable To Families On Housing Benefit

Fewer than 10% of homes are affordable to families needing housing benefit in one third of areas across Britain, according to new analysis. The findings come as a new poll from Crisis and Joseph Rowntree Foundation reveals nearly three quarters (73%) of the public agree that increasing housing benefit so people don’t lose their homes in the first place is better than spending on emergency accommodation. According to reports, staying in emergency or unsuitable temporary accommodation, such as hostels and B&BS, affects 61,000 out of the 170,000 families and individuals experiencing the worst forms of homelessness in Great Britain. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/nine-in-10-homes-unaffordable-to-families-on-housing-benefit/

One In Seven Council Homes Sold To Tenants On Housing Benefit Under Right To Buy

One in seven council homes sold through the Right to Buy since David Cameron hiked discounts in 2012 has been bought by a tenant on housing benefit. In order to secure a mortgage necessary to purchase a Right to Buy property, a tenant on housing benefit would need someone else to provide the finance. In most cases, this is likely to be family members looking for an easy route onto the housing ladder but it could also be lenders seeking to profit illegally. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/one-in-seven-council-homes-sold-to-tenants-on-housing-benefit-under-right-to-buy-63193?utm_source=Housing60&utm_medium=email&utm_content=article_link&utm_campaign=H60

Landlords Who Say 'No DSS' Breaking Equality Laws

The thousands of lettings agents and landlords around the country who reject housing benefit claimants could be flouting equality laws, due to a recent legal case. The widespread practice has led to "no-go zones" for those on lower incomes - especially in desirable residential areas. But a single mother won compensation for sex discrimination from a lettings agency that refused to consider her as a tenant because she was on state benefit. The woman successfully argued that blanket bans on benefit claimants indirectly discriminated against women, especially single women. This is because they are proportionately more likely to be claiming housing benefit than single men, according to official figures. Read more on the BBC website.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-42979242

Two In Ten Landlords Willing To House Universal Credit Tenants

Just two in 10 landlords say they are willing to let to tenants in receipt of housing benefit or universal credit, according to latest research from the National Landlords Association (NLA). The findings show that the proportion of landlords who say they are willing to let their property to housing benefit claimants has fallen to just 20%, down from 34% at the start of 2013. The research, taken from the NLA’s Quarterly Landlord Panel, also shows that two in three landlords who let to housing benefit recipients say they have fallen behind on rental payments in the last 12 months. Read more on the NLA website.

Landlord and Tenant: Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what his most recent assessment is of the extent to which private landlords are unwilling to let to tenants on housing benefit; and if he will make a statement.

Gavin Barwell: The English Housing Survey Headline Report 2015-16 (published March 2017) shows that 24 per cent of households privately renting are in receipt of housing benefit. This suggests that recipients of housing benefit are able to access the sector.

Rents Are 'Out Of Step' With Incomes

Vulnerable tenants are being pushed out of the housing market as cuts to benefits and rising costs mean rents are “increasingly out of step” with household incomes, a leading industry body has warned. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said those on low incomes faced further difficulties as its members were predicting that rents would rise by more than 20% over the next five years. Rics said around a third of members it had polled thought homeless people and those on housing benefits had seen their access to rented properties fall. A key reason cited by respondents was cuts to government support for housing costs. Download the survey from the RICS website.

Housing Benefit: Supported Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Roger Godsiff:To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether housing benefit recipients living in supported housing due to mental health problems will be subject to the benefit cap.

Caroline Nokes: People receiving a range of disability benefits including Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment or who receive the support component of Employment and Support Allowance, are exempt from the benefit cap. The benefit cap does apply to claimants living in specified accommodation if they do not meet the criteria for an exemption but any Housing Benefit they receive will not be taken into account when determining whether the cap should be applied

£9bn Housing Benefit To Private Landlords Is 'Madness'

David Orr has branded a doubling of housing benefit paid to private landlords over 10 years as ‘madness’, as he renews calls for more flexibility for associations. The NHF has published an analysis of government figures on housing benefit claimants. It calculates the number of housing benefit claimants living in the private rented sector has increased 42% to 1.5m over the 10 years to February 2016. This compares to a 4% increase in social sector claimants over the same period. Private landlords received £9.3bn in housing benefit last year, more than double the £4.6bn in 2006. The research also shows it costs £21 a week more to house a family in a private rented sector home than in a social home. It also found 47% of all private renters claiming housing benefit are in work, up from 26% six years ago. Download the briefing from the NHF website.

Bedroom Tax Failing To Free Up Larger Homes

The bedroom tax is failing to free up larger social homes in London, according to research by the G15 group of housing associations. Interim findings from the Real London Lives project reveal around a quarter of tenants were affected by the bedroom tax between 2013 and 2015, but 74% of those affected in 2013 remained in the same situation over the three-year study period. Of the remaining one quarter, 12% stopped receiving housing benefit and 14% no longer had extra bedrooms due to changes in family circumstances.  Only a handful of residents affected by the bedroom tax said they had moved as a direct result of the policy. Read more on the G15 website.

16% Of RTB Purchasers 'On Housing Benefit'

Around 16% of council homes sold by 10 councils under the boosted Right to Buy have been to tenants on housing benefit, raising fears of fraud. Councils responding to a joint investigation by BBC Radio 4 and Inside Housing revealed 721 sales out of a total of 4,538 were to tenants in receipt of benefit when they applied. A sale to a tenant on housing benefit does not prove fraud, but has been described as a “red flag”. This is because to gain a mortgage, someone else would have to be providing the funds. The highest percentage was in Dudley, where 243 of 651 properties – 37.3% – were sold to tenants on housing benefit. Read more on Inside Housing.

Timetable For Introduction Of Pay To Stay

CLG officials have set out the timetable for the introduction of the 'pay to stay' scheme for council tenants with household incomes of over £31,000 (£40,000 in London).  The aim is to introduce the scheme from April 2017. Thresholds will be up-rated annually by inflation (CPI) and tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will be exempted from the policy. However, all other tenants will be required to declare their total household income to their local council to enable the council to calculate how much additional rent they will be expected to pay.  The additional rent is expected to be 15% of any income over the threshold or the full market rent for the property whichever is lower. Read more on the ARCH website.

Low LHA Rates Lock Out Claimants

Housing benefit rates paid to claimants renting privately have fallen well below actual market rents - leaving claimants with no access to housing. Since 2011, Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates have been supposed to reflect the lowest 30% of market rents, but due to a series of caps it has not risen as fast as rents in many areas. This means claimants in some areas - particularly those under 35 who can only claim the rate for a shared room - cannot afford to rent at all and may face street homelessness. The news will raise concerns among housing associations, with social sector tenants’ benefit limited to LHA rates from April 2018. In some areas - particularly those of low demand - the shared room rate will be well below existing social rents, meaning tenants on benefits will struggle to pay. Read more on the CIH website.

Private Rented Housing: Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to help people in receipt of housing benefit secure private rented accommodation.

Brandon Lewis: The English Housing Survey, funded by the Department, published its Headline Report 2014-15 in February which showed that 27% of privately rented households are in receipt of housing benefit. This demonstrates that the private rented sector remains accessible to housing benefit claimants. The key to improving choice and affordability for tenants is to increase the supply of private rented homes. That’s why the Government introduced the £1 billion Build to Rent fund, and the £3.5 billion Private Rented Sector guarantee scheme, to finance thousands of extra homes built specifically for private rent.

Campaign Launched To Help Housing Benefit Tenants Get A Fairer Deal

A campaign has been launched by a renters' rights group for hopeful tenants claiming housing benefits to stop letting agents and landlords routinely rejecting them.  A protest was held in East London last month by Digs, supporters of Hackney tenants, to kick off their #YesDSS campaign. Between December 2015 and February 2016, the group carried out a mystery shopper survey of 50 estate agents in Hackney to find out how many letting agents would accept tenants claiming housing benefit. It found there was just one studio flat available to tenants in Hackney receiving any kind of state support. According to Digs, agents generally blamed landlords for not being keen on DSS (the now defunct Department of Social Security) tenants. Landlord concerns included benefit claimants not paying the rent on time or housing benefit money taking too long to come through. Read more on the BT website.

Benefit Claimants Exempt From Pay To Stay

Social tenants in receipt of housing benefit will be exempt from the Pay to Stay policy, the government has announced. A government response to a consultation on the scheme, said households claiming housing benefit would escape the new rules, contained in the Housing and Planning Bill. “It should not be the case that those who are in receipt of housing benefit should be subject to increased rents, as the rent rises would simply need to be covered by the taxpayer,” the consultation response said. “Households in receipt of housing benefit will therefore be exempt from the policy.” Download the consultation response from the CLG website.

Can Private Landlords Refuse To Let To Housing Benefit Claimants?

It is not unusual for private landlords to advertise properties to let stating that they will not accept applications from Housing Benefit claimants. This raises the question of whether such restrictions amount to unlawful discrimination. In fact private landlords are free to refuse to let to Housing Benefit claimants, just as they are free to refuse to let to applicants who are not in receipt of benefit but who have a poor credit history.  The House of Commons has issued a briefing paper explaining why. Download from the Parliament website.

Less Than One In 10 Housing Association Tenants Likely To Buy Under New Right-To-Buy

Researchers quizzed nearly 7,000 housing association tenants in the Big Tenant Survey carried out by Sheffield Hallam on behalf of Housing Partners. It found that two thirds of social housing tenants are not interested in exploring Right-to-Buy and of the third who are interested only 7% are assessed as being able to afford their property. The survey reveals that of the 33% of tenants who said they were very likely or fairly likely to take up the Right-to-Buy opportunity 71% were in workless households,  61% had a household income of less than £21,000 per year, 41% were on Housing Benefit, 22% were aged 55 plus and 7% were in rent arrears. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Campaign Slams ‘Discrimination’ Against Renters On Housing Benefit

Renters from across Hackney are calling for an end to the “discriminatory” practice that allows private landlords to deny a home to those claiming housing benefit. The number of claimants of housing benefit, often referred to as ‘DSS’, has increased dramatically in Hackney during recent years due to the rising cost of rented accommodation. In a recent survey Digs, a campaign group which fights for renters’ rights in Hackney, contacted 50 local letting agencies, finding just one property available to those who claim housing benefit. Out of the 50 agencies contacted, 21 said it was company policy not to accept DSS tenants, 20 admitted it was very rare and not preferred by their landlords, and a further nine agencies declined to answer. Read more on the Hackney Citizen website.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Neil Gray:  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether (a) new or existing Housing Benefit claimants and (b) those in supported accommodation will have their allowance cut to Local Housing Allowance rates from 1 April 2016.

Justin Tomlinson: This measure does not apply until April 2018. We value the work of the supported housing sector extremely highly and are working closely with them to ensure they are supported as effectively as possible in advance of the police taking effect. The Department alongside the Department for Communities and Local Government has jointly commissioned an evidence review of supported housing. The results of this research will determine our future policy development and any appropriate exemptions.

More Than 23,000 Households' Benefit Capped

The number of households subject to the benefit cap has increased to more than 23,000 for the first time since February, the latest government statistics reveal. At August, 23,397 households were capped, up from 22,866 in July and the highest figure since January. Overall, 66,900 households have been capped since the policy, which limits overall benefit payments to £26,000 per year, was introduced in 2013. Of the 43,528 who are no longer subject to it, 18,000 have moved into work while almost 10,000 are no longer claiming housing benefit, or have reduced their housing benefit claim. Download the data from the DWP website.