New Homelessness Law Could Make “People Unintentionally Homeless”, Warns Councillor

The Homelessness Reduction Act requires councils to provide homelessness assistance to any UK citizen or person with the right to reside in the UK. This imposes new legal obligations on local authorities to actively prevent and relieve homelessness. With the dramatic rise of homelessness over the past eight years (rough sleeping is up 169 per cent since 2010), it’s a crucial piece of legislation. But councils are struggling to keep up with their new obligations –  and could be putting the very people who rely on their housing services at risk of homelessness. This is due to a lack of resources from central government to enact the new Act. Read more on the New Statesman website.

https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/economy/2018/05/new-homelessness-law-could-make-people-unintentionally-homeless-warns

Benefit Cap Plunging Private Renters Into Poverty

When the overall household benefit cap was introduced in 2013, it limited the total amount of benefits that a household working less than 16 hours per week could claim at £26,000 a year. It’s now at £20,000 a year outside of London, or £23,000 in the capital. An analysis on the impact of the lower cap on private renting families paints a pretty bleak picture: in more than half of England the cap means that, after paying rent, a family with two children living in a small two-bed home would have less than £8 per person per day to cover all their essentials like food and bills. This would leave them at least £100 a week under the UK poverty line. Read more on the New Statesman website.

Orr Some Deceits Of NHF Over “Offer!”

David Orr has deceived 1,100 housing association boards and proves this by his own hand in an article in the New Statesman clearly written AFTER the deceits were emailed to all NHF members last week. David Orr and the NHF believe – with astonishing incredulity – that this POTENTIAL ‘offer’ will see the Conservative government agree to the right to buy 

ONLY IF THE HA LANDLORD AGREES! 

What planet is David Orr on? Many HAs north of Birmingham cannot afford to sell and replace as this will cost them tens of thousands for each property due to house prices.  As a result they will not replace even if they ALLOW (ahem!) the sale in the first place.  The Orr ‘ deal’ is THE most surefire way to have housing associations renationalised as public sector landlords. Read more on the Speye blog.

Get a Free Council House for Coming off Benefits

Millions of houses would be “given away” to low-paid workers under Tory plans to reward people who come off benefits. Iain Duncan Smith, the work and pensions secretary, is pushing for a pledge to “gift” tenants their council home after a year in work to be included in the Tory manifesto. Such tenants would cease to be eligible for housing benefit and would have to pay 35 per cent of the sale proceeds in tax if they sold their property within three years, according to one model under discussion. Read more on the New Statesman website.

Labour Will Not Lift Cap on Council Borrowing For Housebuilding

Ed Balls has toughened Labour's fiscal position by pledging not to fund any new policy pledges through extra borrowing. But what about allowing councils to borrow more for housebuilding? The idea was being explored as part of the Lyons Review, which is examining how Labour can meet its pledge to build 200,000 homes a year by 2020. There are good reasons for doing so. The CIH estimates that raising the cap by £7bn could enable the construction of 60,000 homes over the next five years. Despite this Labour will not pledge to lift the cap. A spokesman for Ed Balls said: "We want to prioritise housing, but we also want to be fiscally responsible." He suggested that the 200,000 target could be met through other sources such as self-builders and SMEs. Read more on the New Statesman website.

Labour Will "Pause" Universal Credit If They Win Power

Rachel Reeves says that Labour will reassess its commitment to Universal Credit if it wins the next election. She told the Sunday Times that the party will pause the project for three months, and call in the National Audit Office for a "warts and all" appraisal.  "We’re not going to go in with a preconceived notion that we are going to proceed at any cost, which seems to be Iain Duncan Smith’s approach,” she added. Read more on the New Statesman website.

Life In Limbo: What It’s Like To Be One Of Britain’s Hidden Homeless

The threat of people losing their home if they rent is at its highest level in more than a decade, official figures from the Ministry of Justice show. Benefit changes, including the introduction of the bedroom tax, and an increase in sanctions, such as housing benefit being suspended, are driving up the number being threatened with eviction. 31,000 people in social housing received a notice to seek possession at the start of this year. That’s 525 a day.  “Housing benefit is a safety net and for many it’s all that stands between them and homelessness,” says Leslie Morphy, chief executive of Crisis. “Homelessness has been on the rise for the last three years. Rough sleeping in particular has risen steeply and by a massive 75 per cent in London. Harsh cuts to housing benefits and a lack of affordable housing have taken a heavy toll.” Read more on the New Statesman website.

Labour to Vote on Banning Letting Agent Fees for Tenants

On the local election campaign trail, Ed Miliband has just revealed his latest gambit. Labour will stage a vote on its recently announced proposal to ban letting agent fees for tenants (which the party estimates would save the average household £350). It will do so by tabling an amendment to the Consumer Rights Bill. Miliband said in his speech last week: “When you’re buying a home, the estate agent doesn’t charge you fees, but those who rent are given no such protection. They get charged up to £500 just for signing a tenancy agreement even if the letting agents are charging the landlord for the same thing too. A Labour government will ban letting agents from charging tenants.” Read more on the New Statesman website.

IDS Hints at Cut in the Benefit Cap

One of the welfare cuts that George Osborne is most likely to make if the Tories win the next election is a reduction in the household benefit cap of £26,000. The most recent YouGov poll found that 76% of the public support a cap of £26,000 and that 49% favour one of £15,000. Asked by Tory MP Andrew Bridgen at Work and Pensions questions whether the benefit cap would be reduced, Iain Duncan Smith replied: "we will keep the policy under review", a clear hint that the government is considering a cut.  While the cap might appear generous, it's important to remember that those households who receive £26,000 do so due to high rents and/or an above average number of children; the government's Impact Assessment found that 52% of those families affected have four or more children. Read more on the New Statesman website.

Universal Credit Has "Not Achieved Value for Money", Warns NAO

In the DWP accounts the National Audit Office states that Universal Credit has "not achieved value for money", noting that the DWP has written off £40.1m of assets developed for the programme "as it will never use them" and that "it also now expects to write down £91.0 million of the remaining assets to nil value by March 2018, due to the considerable reduction in their expected useful life." The head of the NAO comments: "While this is the appropriate accounting treatment, it should not detract from the underlying issue that the Department has spent £91.0 million on assets that will only support a limited service for 5 years, with clear consequences for public value." In addition, it notes that there were "considerable weaknesses" in the department’s financial controls over Universal Credit and that the "size and complexity" of the programme "stretched the Department’s capacity and capability". Read more on the New Statesman website.

Labour Plans to Challenge Lib Dem MPs with Bedroom Tax Vote

Next Tuesday (12 November), Labour will hold a vote on its pledge to scrap the bedroom tax. For Lib Dem MPs, this represents a particular challenge. As evidence has grown of the harm inflicted by the policy, Clegg's party has become increasingly uncomfortable with the government's stance. At its recent conference, the party voted in favour of a motion calling for "an immediate evaluation of the impact of the policy" and for "a redrafting of clear housing needs guidelines in association with those representing vulnerable groups including the disabled, elderly and children." Read more on the New Statesman website.

IDS to Be Grilled By MPs over Misuse of Benefit Statistics

Back in May, it was reported that Iain Duncan Smith would be grilled by MPs over his misuse of benefit statistics and, after his latest crimes against data, the good news is that a date has now been confirmed.   In response to an email from Jayne Linney, who started a Change.org petition demanding parliament hold Duncan Smith to account, Anne Begg, the Labour chair of the work and pensions select committee, replied:

    ‘I can confirm that IDS will be appearing before the Work and Pensions Select Committee on Wednesday 4th September where he will be asked questions about the DWP’s Annual Report and the Department’s use of statistics.’

Read more on the New Statesman website.

Five Things IDS Doesn't Want You to Know About the Benefit Cap

1. An out-of-work family is never better off than an in-work family

2. It will punish large families and increase child poverty

3. It will likely cost more than it saves

4. It will increase homelessness and do nothing to address the housing crisis

5. It will encourage family break-up

Read more on the New Statesman website.

Osborne Rules out Further Welfare Cuts

After reports that he is struggling to secure agreement from cabinet ministers to any cuts in next month's Spending Review, George Osborne has taken the unusual step of touring the studios to reveal the progress he's made so far.  The Telegraph reports that Iain Duncan Smith has offered to cut welfare by another £3bn in order to protect spending on defence and the police, but Osborne made it clear that with the Lib Dems opposed to any further welfare cuts, this was not an option. "We've already accepted big reductions in welfare, including big reductions for this year, now we've got to look for savings in Whitehall, in government, in bureaucracy," he said.  Read more on the New Statesman website.

Work More Hours or Lose Your Benefits

Rarely a day now passes without ministers looking to impose new conditions on welfare claimants. The latest proposal under consideration is for low-paid workers to be forced to work more hours or face losing their benefits.  Ahead of the national launch of Universal Credit in October, a DWP document notes that "the current Jobseekers Allowance caseload will be joined by current claimants of tax credits/housing benefit who are working less than could reasonably be expected." It adds: "The Welfare Reform Act enables us to place a wide range of mandatory requirements on this group (e.g. work search, work availability and work preparation requirements). Any requirement must be intended to help them find work, more work or better paid work."  Read more on the New Statesman website.

Cameron Is Repeating the Housing Benefit Myth

Having long abandoned the pretence that "we're all in this together", David Cameron is preparing yet another raid on the welfare budget. He has announced plans to abolish housing benefit for under-25s and indicated that the government is considering "time-limiting" Jobseeker's Allowance, reducing the new benefits cap to £22,000 and restricting payments for large families (specifically, limiting child benefit to three children). As previously signalled by George Osborne, the cuts are designed to save the government £10bn but so far Cameron hasn't chosen to focus on the alleged savings. Rather, he has argued that the plans are necessary to reverse a "culture of entitlement". In his pre-speech interview with the Mail on Sunday, Cameron claimed that housing benefit "discourages" young people from working. Read more on the New Statesman website.