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Around a quarter of social tenants will need support with
the switch to universal credit if they are to avoid financial risk. A study
conducted by consultancy Policis for the National Housing Federation has
identified a ‘significant proportion’ of social tenants who will need help with
the shift. Under universal credit a range of existing benefits will be combined
into a single payment. In most cases this will be made monthly, and the housing
element will be paid direct to the tenant rather than going to their landlord.
The Policis report says this will cause significant problems for low-income
households that are used to budgeting on a weekly basis. Download the report from the NHF website.
A Conservative-run council is to sever the link between a
homelessness application and a social housing tenancy as it bids to overhaul
its allocations policy. Hammersmith and
Fulham Council (HandF) says it wants to reward hard working residents with a
local connection to the borough, who make a positive contribution to the
community. It has unveiled a range of
measures including scrapping its choice-based lettings system, severing the
link between homelessness applications and social tenancies, giving greater
priority to those in work and offering five-year fixed-term social tenancies. It also plans to restrict the waiting list to those earning
below £40,000. It says the current
register - which can see anyone from any part of the country go on it -
"creates false hopes and expectations for applicants". The council made just under 500 new lettings
last year, despite having a waiting list of over 10,000. Read more on the HandF website.
