Freud on Direct Payment Arrangements

Lord Freud, Minister for Welfare Reform, speaking at the CIH Annual Conference, defended the bedroom tax and revealed further details of the Direct Payment arrangements his department planned to protect landlords' income.  He also gave further details of how the government’s policy of paying benefit to directly tenants, rather than landlords, will work in practice.  He explained that three levels of protection will exist for landlords:

*Decisions about whether tenants should receive direct payments will be made in collaboration with social landlords

*If arrears build up to the equivalent of one month’s rent the decision to make direct payments will be reviewed

*If arrears reach the equivalent of two months rent, the claimant will have housing payments switched to the landlord.

Read more on the Coalition Watch blog.