DWP Landlord Rent Payment Portal Won’t Be Live Until Summer

An on-line portal passing benefit related rent payments direct to PRS landlords won’t be live until Summer at the earliest. Richard d’Souza, Head of the DWP Universal Credit Engagement Division, told the London Assembly Housing Committee that the system was being built to go on line by Summer. Testimony to the committee reinforced the links between welfare reform, rent arrears and rocketing eviction rates. Landlords have accumulated up to £15,000 of arrears as a result of reform – with arrears a key factor in driving landlords away from buy-to-let. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/dwp-landlord-rent-payment-portal-wont-be-live-until-summer/

Over 123,000 Children ‘Spent Their School Holidays Homeless’

More than 123,000 children and their families have spent their school holiday homeless, an increase of around 53,000 since the summer holidays of 2011. The Local Government Association (LGA) is warning the numbers of homeless children councils are housing in temporary accommodation has increased by 76% in the last seven years. Councils, who since 2011, have been housing an additional 650 homeless children every month – the equivalent of an additional primary school’s worth of children every fortnight – are calling on the Government to adapt welfare reforms and allow councils to borrow to build new homes, with the right infrastructure, to tackle the housing shortage. Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/over-123000-children-spent-their-school-holidays-homeless/

Jobcentre Staff Told By DWP Not To Record Number Of People They Send To Foodbanks

A directive, issued by the DWP, tells staff they must not use the term “referral” or “voucher”, and should not keep any record of the number of people they “signpost” to foodbanks.  Critics have urged the Government to halt the practice as ministers have used the lack of records to dodge questions about the impact of welfare reforms. The revelation also indicates how charities are being relied upon to support the benefits system, but not to what extent. One major food bank charity says it hands out nearly 60,000 food parcels every year as a result of “signposting”. Read more on the Huff Post website.

https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/foodbanks-records-jobcentre-dwp_uk_5b61c1bde4b0b15aba9ebcc9?utm_hp_ref=uk-homepage

Top Government Housing Official Links Welfare Reform As ‘Relevant’ To Rising Homelessness

Whitehall’s most senior housing chief links welfare reform as ‘relevant’ to rising homelessness. Melanie Dawes, permanent secretary at the MHCLG, told the Commons Public Accounts Committee her officials were looking out for links between the numbers presenting as homeless and the present application of the benefits system. But homelessness minister Heather Wheeler has stated her surety that government cuts and welfare reform are not causes, saying she didn’t know why homelessness was rising. Read more on 24housing.

http://www.24housing.co.uk/news/top-government-housing-official-links-welfare-reform-as-relevant-to-rising-homelessnesss/

Youth Homelessness Rise Linked To Welfare Reforms

Government welfare reforms, including the introduction of Universal Credit and the capping of housing benefit, are contributing to a rise in youth homelessness, a report has concluded. The Young and Homeless 2018 report, includes a survey of nearly 200 providers and council representatives. Among homelessness providers, 55 per cent reported an increase in demand among young people for their services over the last year. More than a quarter of young people accessing services over the last 12 months are aged 16 or 17. Those responding to the survey said that a key factor in the rise is the challenges young people face around welfare reforms. Download the report from the Homeless Link website.

https://www.homeless.org.uk/sites/default/files/site-attachments/Young%20and%20Homeless%202018.pdf

Homelessness Rise ‘Due To Welfare Reform’

The recent rise in homelessness has its roots in welfare reform and the housing market, almost entirely accounted for by an increase in families losing their privately-rented housing, experts have said. The number of people officially recorded as sleeping on the streets of England rose from 1,768 in 2010 to 4,751 in 2017, but charities estimate the true figure to be more than double this. Read more on the Belfast Telegraph website.

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/uk/homelessness-rise-due-to-welfare-reform-36545186.html

Councils In Universal Credit Areas Dig Deeper Into DHP Funds

Councils are having to dig deeper into their Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) funds to help residents affected by welfare reforms and homelessness. Inside Housing contacted councils in areas where the Universal Credit full service has been rolled out to ascertain how the major welfare reform alongside the lower benefit cap is impacting councils’ DHP budgets. Twenty councils responded, with 19 reporting they had spent more at this point in the year compared with the same timeframe in 2016/17. The DWP made £16.5m extra DHP funding available this year to cover the increased cost of helping people hit by the lower benefit cap.  Read more on Inside Housing.

Landlord Defends Sending Eviction Letters Ahead Of Universal Credit Rollout

A Lincolnshire property company has defended threatening all of its tenants with eviction if they fail to pay their rent because of delays in receiving universal credit payments, after sending all tenants pre-emptive notices ahead of the rollout of the welfare reform. The letter from GAP Property in Grimsby was highlighted by Jeremy Corbyn during prime minister’s questions in the Commons on Wednesday. Corbyn said tenants of the property management company faced the prospect of being made homeless before Christmas. GAP Property said the introduction of universal credit would affect the vast majority of its tenants and it needed to take action to avoid a slew of rent arrears, which could put it out of business. Read more on the Guardian website.

Warning Over Benefits Tempers Rent Settlement Optimism

Welfare reforms could leave some tenants struggling to pay higher rents once they begin rising in 2020, experts have warned, tempering some of the optimism about the recent rent deal. The announcement that social landlords will be able to raise rents by Consumer Price Index plus 1% for five years from 2020 was widely welcomed by the sector as a generous deal. However, some have warned that the forthcoming cap on benefits at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) levels, which is due to be imposed from April 2019, could create a shortfall between housing benefit and rents, leaving tenants having to cover the difference themselves. Read more on Inside Housing.

Tory Rebellion Throws Universal Credit Reforms Into Chaos

The Government's flagship welfare reforms have been thrown into jeopardy after 12 Conservative MPs wrote a private letter to the Work and Pensions Secretary demanding a pause in the roll-out of Universal Credit. The Telegraph understands that the 12 MPs, led by Heidi Allen, have warned David Gauke not to go ahead with a planned tenfold increase in the roll-out of Universal Credit. Ministers had been expected to announce a decision on whether to accelerate the roll-out in the coming weeks but the backbench revolt risks wiping out the Tories' majority in the Commons if Labour forces a vote, throwing the whole scheme into question. Read more on the Daily Telegraph website.

Government Has ‘Not Evaluated’ The Impact Of Its Reforms On Homelessness

Government has not evaluated the impact of its welfare reforms on homelessness, or the impact of the mitigations that it has put in place, according to the National Audit Office (NAO). An NAO report says the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) does not have a published cross-government strategy to prevent and tackle homelessness – despite acknowledging the scale of the challenge and plans to improve the data the government holds on homelessness. Download the report from the NAO website.

Housing Shortage Forces Councils To Spend £2 Million A Day On Temporary Accommodation

A chronic shortage of affordable housing is forcing cash-strapped councils to spend more than £2 million a day on temporary accommodation for homeless families, analysis by the Local Government Association reveals.  The LGA, which represents more than 350 councils in England and Wales, is calling on government to use this week's Budget to free councils from borrowing limits hampering their ability to build new homes, and to adapt welfare reforms to protect families at risk of homelessness. The number of affordable homes built in 2015/16 fell by 52 per cent and was the lowest number in 24 years. Just 6,554 social rented homes were built in the same year. Read more on the LGA website.

Things The Government Needs To Consider About Supported Housing Funding

1)      The funding framework has to be adequately sized and resourced, so that people do not fall into arrears on the transition to the new system

2)      Funding needs to reflect the actual costs of supported housing

3)      The long term funding, distribution and protection of the top up fund will be critical to sustain existing schemes, and ensure new development

4)      A different model is needed for crisis and emergency schemes

5)      Local authorities will need support to develop strong and robust partnerships to ensure effective commissioning of future schemes

6)      Older people have been excluded from welfare changes and there is an argument that, until the full roll out of UC, they should continue to be so

Read more on the CIH website.

Welfare Reform Criticised As Social Housing Changes Approved

Government welfare reform came under fire as a council approved changes to its letting policy for social housing. Durham County Council has approved a raft of changes to its letting policy which aim to simplify the process of applying for new homes. The review of the system, which is used by County Durham’s housing associations, was carried out in response to impending changes to housing benefit. Alterations include changing the banding system to have fewer categories and changing the policy on rent arrears. Now, all arrears will be considered when deciding whether someone is an “acceptable tenant”. Previously it was set at eight weeks of arrears. Read more on the Northern Echo website.

A Low Score For Universal Credit

Universal credit, which amalgamates six welfare benefits, still has cross-party support, despite being beset by delays and fears that it will fail to meet its main objective of encouraging people to work The most ambitious welfare reform for decades was bound to take a while to get right. But did the introduction of universal credit really need to take this long? By the time it is rolled out in job centres across the country over the next 18 months, UC will already have been more than five years in the making. The latest estimate is that some claimants will not switch to UC until 2022. The most recent delay was announced in July by Damian Green, the new work and pensions secretary, and the third person to hold the post this year. Read more on the Public Finance website.

Britain Is Heading For A Homelessness Crisis - How To Stop It

If welfare reform continues on its current track, the UK is headed towards a homelessness crisis in the next decade. This stark warning from the Fabian Society comes at a time when public concern about housing has reached its highest level for 40 years.  For Us All by the Fabian Society, provides a comprehensive and long overdue analysis of the current trajectory of the UK’s welfare state. The research, supported by Shelter and Legal & General, is a vitally important kick-start to the discussions we need to have about the challenges of 2020 and beyond, and what some of the solutions might be. Download a copy of the report from the Fabians website.

Research Shows The Impact Of Welfare Reforms On Social Tenants

A new study by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) of Sheffield Hallam University shows that most recent welfare reforms will reduce the average income of a social rented household by around £1,300 a year– almost double what a private rented household will lose (£710), and more than five times the average loss of an owner occupied household (£230). Download the report from Sheffield Hallam website.

MPs Call For Action Over 'Unfair' DHP Criteria

The DWP “must address” local Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) criteria which have “unintentionally and unfairly excluded” disabled people from financial support, a parliamentary committee has concluded. The Work and Pensions select committee report concludes time-limited DHPs are “inadequate protection” for people the government “did not intend” welfare reforms to affect. The report states this applies to parents or guardians who care full-time for their severely disabled grown-up children and therefore cannot work, and cannot find any suitable cheaper accommodation, and yet are currently subject to the bedroom tax. The report warned that “expansion of local discretion…has given rise to concerns about the coverage and adequacy of the safety net.” Download a copy of the report from the Parliament website.

Make Up For Benefit Cuts By Working 200 More Hours

The Government has admitted that families receiving in-work benefits will lose out from April next year – but suggested they could make up the shortfall themselves if they worked harder. In what Labour has called Iain Duncan Smith’s “Christmas message”, the DWP proposed people “recoup the loss” from welfare reforms by doing three or four hours extra work every week. The Work and Pensions Secretary has insisted people on universal credit will not be made worse off by in-work benefit changes announced in the summer budget. Yet in a document released after Parliament broke up for the holidays, the DWP appeared to confirm that it expected working families to lose up to £1,600 a year. Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.

40% Of Homeless Young People Could Be Hit By Removal Of Housing Support

Housing Benefit provides a safety net to young people, without which they would not be able to access accommodation. For those at a point of crisis, removal of housing support could also push vital homelessness services out of reach. Young and Homeless 2015, a survey of homelessness service providers and local authority housing departments, indicates that the problem is compounded by wider welfare reforms and lack of affordable and shared housing:

·         95% of homelessness services reported that benefit sanctions have affected young people’s ability to access accommodation.

·         73% reported that the extension of the Shared Accommodation Rate has greatly affected young people’s ability to access accommodation.

·         On average, the time spent in homelessness services was 16 months, almost twice as long as in last year’s survey (8.5 months).

Read more on the Homeless Link website.