Housing Benefit: Supported Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Dr Roberta Blackman-Woods: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his oral contribution of 20 July 2016, Official Report, column 849, when his Department will make an announcement on the exemption of specialist supported housing from changes to housing benefit.

Caroline Nokes: The Secretary of State has confirmed that the Government expects to make an announcement on the way forward for supported housing in early autumn.

Changes To Housing Benefit Since 2010

After coming into power in 2010, as part of its deficit reduction programme the Coalition Government announced a package of welfare reforms aimed at reducing public expenditure. Housing Benefit was targeted as a key area for reform due to the increasing expenditure in this area (forecast to be £23.5 billion in 2016-17 - around 11% of total welfare expenditure).  This latest briefing paper details changes to Housing Benefit announced since 2010, including the under-occupation penalty ("bedroom tax"), limiting Housing Benefit paid to private tenants via changes to Local Housing Allowances and reducing social sector rents by 1% a year for four years from 2016-17.

Download the briefing from the Parliament website.

Areas Most Affected By ‘Bedroom Tax’ Are Hardest To Downsize In

Research commissioned by government following housing benefit reforms finds increase in tenants self-selecting to downsize, but the areas hardest hit by reform are those least equipped with appropriate housing stock. Landlord surveys suggest that between policy enactment in April 2013 and autumn last year up to 45,000 had downsized within the social sector – no more than 8% of those affected by the bedroom tax. In much of the UK, particularly areas such as Wales and the North East of England where overcrowding is not a problem, there is a gulf between the size of households and that of available social housing stock: a dearth of much needed one-bed properties and a surplus of three-bed properties, the hardest to let under the bedroom tax.  Read more on the Cambridge University website.

Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing (2) - Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Kennedy: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what financial information is sent to his Department from individual local authorities on the administrative costs incurred in the preparation for, and the processing of, the under-occupancy penalty; and if he will make a statement. 

Esther McVey: The Department has provided funding to each local authority to meet the additional costs resulting from our reforms to Housing Benefit. Local Authority Associations were fully consulted when determining these new costs. The Department does not collect details of expenditure on Housing Benefit administration from individual local authorities.

Housing Benefit: Coalition Faces Commons Split

The Lib Dems and Conservatives are set for a Commons showdown later over a bid to ease housing benefit changes. Lib Dem MP Andrew George wants to exempt more people from what critics call the "bedroom tax". Lib Dem MPs will get behind Mr George's bill, with Labour also promising to back it. The Tories are understood to have ordered their MPs to vote against the bill on Friday (5^th) on a three-line whip. If Mr George's private member's bill becomes law people who could not be found a smaller home would be exempt from the housing benefit changes. The bill would also exempt disabled people who need a spare bedroom or who have adapted homes. Read more on the BBC website.

'Bedroom Tax Saves £1m a Day'

On the first anniversary of the controversial cutback, which is described by ministers as the removal of a "spare room subsidy", Iain Duncan Smith's department released figures showing that almost half a million households were having cash deducted from their benefits. DWP figures showed that in November 2013, some 498,000 social housing tenants in England, Scotland and Wales were having their benefits reduced under the policy. This figure was 50,000 down on numbers affected in the first month of the policy's operation, suggesting that tens of thousands of tenants have moved to smaller accommodation. Changes to housing benefit in the social rented sector are expected to save £490 million in 2013/14 and a total of around £1 billion by the end of 2014/15, equating to more than £1.3 million per day, the DWP said. Read more on the Express and Star website.

£165m Fund to Help Housing Benefit Claimants

Councils will receive £165 million to support vulnerable claimants who might need extra support next year (2014 to 2015). This £165 million builds on the £180 million Discretionary Housing Payment funding this year and ensures continuing financial support.  The additional funding pot covers support for claimants affected by Housing Benefit changes including the removal of the spare room subsidy, the benefit cap, and Local Housing Allowance reforms. Read more on the Govuk website.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Ms Harman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions whether the under-occupancy penalty will be included in the research he has commissioned into the effect of housing benefit changes; what the terms of reference for this research will be; whether a public consultation will be held as part of this research; and when this research is expected to be published.  

Esther McVey: A consortium has been commissioned to carry out a two year monitoring of the effects of the removal of the spare room subsidy measure. The research will include effects of the measures on supply issues, impacts in rural areas as well as effects on financial circumstances and vulnerable individuals. The evaluation includes research with claimants, social landlords, local authority staff and voluntary organisations. A public consultation is not being undertaken as part of this research. The evaluation is taking place over a two year period, starting from April 2013, with initial findings available in 2014 and a final report published in late 2015.

Housing Benefit Review Is In Progress

A government commissioned review by independent firms has begun into the impact of housing benefit changes.  Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said it was "responsible" to check on how any new policy worked in practice.  With a "big policy like this, it'd be irresponsible for a government to say 'oh well, it's happening' and not work out or try and assess how it's actually being implemented on the ground", he said. The initial findings will be available in 2014 and the final report in late 2015, according to the DWP.  Read more on the BBC website.

Housing Benefit Challenge Set For Appeal Court

The legality of housing benefit changes is to be challenged after lawyers for 10 adults and children with disabilities won the right to take their cases to the Court of Appeal. The appeal is against a High Court ruling in July that upheld the legality of the benefit changes. Read more on the BBC website.

Council Tenants in Arrears 'May Be Evicted'

Council tenants in Bristol who have fallen into arrears due to housing benefit changes may have to be evicted, the city's mayor has admitted. In March, George Ferguson said those adversely affected by the "spare room subsidy" would not be moved. But a cross-party report saying a no evictions policy was "unsustainable" has been supported by the mayor.  Mr Ferguson promised to make a final decision on the issue at the next meeting of his cabinet. About 3,500 city council tenants are affected by the benefit changes.  Read more on the BBC website.

Welfare Overhaul Is In Serious Trouble

The government's welfare overhaul is in "serious trouble" and is costing the taxpayer "up to £1.5bn", says Labour.  Liam Byrne said he hoped Universal Credit could be saved and suggested Labour would work with the government to "get things straight". But he said failures on that project, employment schemes and housing benefit changes had run up the welfare bill.  Mr Byrne levelled a personal attack at cabinet minister Iain Duncan Smith, suggesting: "There seems to be something very wrong in the mind of the man at the helm of DWP. He has a mandate to reform but the instruction to deliver appears to have got lost somewhere in his office." Read more on the BBC website.

Spare Room Subsidy: Funding Update

The government have announced an additional £35m in-year funding to help claimants affected by changes to housing benefit in the social sector who need extra support. The £35m funding consists of:

*£10m transitional payments distributed to all councils

*£5m discretionary housing payment funding for the least densely populated areas in the country

*a new £20m discretionary housing payment fund

This is in addition to existing discretionary housing payment funding provided to councils this year that will help support vulnerable residents as welfare reform changes are introduced.  Read more on the Gov.uk website.

Welfare Reform NOT Reducing Rents

Government reforms to the welfare system are failing in their aim to reduce rents and could even be driving price hikes, according to a report by London Councils.  Tracking Welfare Reform: The Impact of Housing Benefit Reform in London analyses the impact of changes to Local Housing Allowance (LHA), the main housing benefit. It finds that:

*the changes have not led to reduced rents.

*working households accounted for 90 per cent of the growth in housing benefit in outer London

*more than two-thirds of the growth in housing benefit receipts are in the private rented sector

Download a copy of the report from the London Councils website.

Council’s Plan to Combat Poverty

More than 2,400 council tenants have fallen behind on their rent in Leeds since changes to housing benefit came into effect.  The city council said it needed a new anti-poverty strategy to deal with the effects of welfare reform.

It also proposed a campaign to promote credit unions and deter people from using payday or doorstep lenders. 6,728 council tenants had been affected, by the ‘bedroom tax’ and 2,436 of those had fallen into arrears.  It said a plan also needed to be put in place to help families deal with the introduction of universal credit.  Read more on the BBC website.

Committee Considers Impact of Welfare Reforms

The Public Accounts Committee - chaired by Margaret Hodge MBE MP - has released a report examining the overall impact of housing benefit reforms implemented by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP). The paper is broadly critical of the Department's approach. Margaret Hodge said:

"At the time of our hearing, far too many of those who stand to be directly affected were worryingly unaware of the reforms and what they will mean for their finances."  According to the Committee's findings, significant changes are being introduced without comprehensively modelling likely outcomes on individuals or on housing supply. It suggests that there seems to be little understanding of costs which may be incurred by local authorities.  Read the report on the Parliament website.

Minister Pledges to Review Foster Carer 'Bedroom Tax'

The minister for children and families has pledged to review housing benefit changes that will leave some foster carers out of pocket.  Edward Timpson told delegates at the National Children and Adults Services Conference he is planning to speak to the DWP about the so-called bedroom tax.  The minister said he was aware that the changes could have a negative impact on foster carers, adding that he is working with the charity the Fostering Network to try and achieve exemptions for foster carers using spare rooms for foster children. “We managed to make some progress in the changes that were made to make foster carers one of the groups that would benefit from the housing discretionary budget,” Timpson said. “But there is still some concern that won’t go far enough in every situation.”  Read more on the Children and Young People Now website.

Housing Benefit Plans Are Not New

The chancellor's proposals to reform housing benefit for the under-25s are not new. The Thatcher government's Social Security Acts of 1986 and 1988 were underpinned by the assumption that families should take greater financial responsibility for their young people. This resulted in the ending of income support for 16- and 17-year-olds, except on proof of "severe hardship", and the abolition of "householder status" for under-25s, by the introduction of lower rates of income support for this age group. The impact of these changes proved disastrous.  First, many care leavers for whom family support was not an option experienced poverty and homelessness.  Second, there was a larger but at that time lesser-known group of abused and neglected older teenagers who suffered greatly at the hands of their parents. In order to qualify for benefits so that they could leave their families, or remain in their own accommodation, they had to prove "severe hardship" or "estrangement" at regular intervals. Many gave up on these draconian tests, officially described then, and proposed now, as "safety nets", but which reflected the long shadows of the deterrent poor law. They either remained and suffered at home or ended up homeless.  Read more on the Guardian website.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Grahame M. Morris: To ask the Secretary of State  

(1) whether his proposals for secondary legislation relating to universal credit will apply to people who reside in supported housing arrangements; and if he will make a statement;

(2) what recent progress he has made on reform of housing benefit for people who reside in supported housing arrangements;

(3) when the Government plans to respond to the consultation on Housing Benefit Reform—Supported Housing, which closed in 2011.

Steve Webb: We are still considering options for housing benefit reform for those who live in supported 'exempt' accommodation as defined in the consultation document. We are looking at the feasibility of each of the options set out in that document and will make an announcement in due course.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate his Department has made of the number of households that will be affected by the housing benefit under-occupancy penalty.

Steve Webb: The introduction of the social sector size criteria measure is likely to affect an estimated 660,000 working age housing benefit claimants living in the social rented sector in Great Britain at the time of its introduction in 2013/14. This estimate is contained in the impact assessment of the housing benefit change, which was updated on 28 June 2012 to coincide with the laying of the associated draft regulations.