Demand For Specialised Supported Housing Forecast To Increase By 36%

Specialised supported housing for people with learning disabilities is predicted to increase by 36% as the population grows and more people are moved out of hospital settings, a Mencap report has found. Demand for specialised supported housing is forecast to increase from 38,500 units in 2015 to 59,800 in 2030, partly because of a government target to move people with learning disabilities from hospital into the community. Mencap is calling for the government to guarantee that the move from housing benefit to Universal Credit will continue to fully meet the housing costs of specialised supported housing. Read more on Inside Housing.

https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:M7lhs-2VJmoJ:https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/home/home/demand-for-specialised-supported-housing-forecast-to-increase-by-36-55942+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&safe=vss

Government Defeated In Bedroom Tax Case

A couple who had their housing benefit reduced because they were unable to share a bedroom due to a severe disability have defeated the government in court for the second time. In a decision passed down by the Upper Tribunal, the court ruled Jayson and Jacqueline Carmichael should not have been subject to the bedroom tax. A Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spokesperson said they would seek to appeal the decision. The couple successfully challenged the bedroom tax at the Supreme Court last year. The Supreme Court ruled the government had unlawfully discriminated against Ms Carmichael, who has spina bifida and is unable to share a bedroom with her husband and as a result had her housing benefit reduced. Read more on Inside Housing.

Universal Credit – A Programme In Recovery?

A new report from the Institute for Government judges that Universal Credit is now in recovery. A mere 300,000 or so households are receiving it. Serious challenges remain, not least transferring the huge numbers still on tax credits to the new system and ensuring that the most vulnerable, who include people with disabilities and long-term health problems, are able to cope. But many years later than originally planned, something that is recognisable as Universal Credit now looks likely to make it to the finish line. The report charts Universal Credit’s troubled history, which includes an utterly unrealistic initial timetable and the fact that the DWP started to build this hugely ambitious benefit reform before it had defined what it would look like and how it would work. Download the report from the Institute for Government website.

Local Housing Allowance – Parliamentary Written Answer

Baroness Thomas of Winchester To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they will take to protect and enhance the amount of local housing allowance paid by local authorities in England in order to meet the accommodation and support needs of persons with learning disabilities.

Lord Freud: A Written Ministerial Statement was published on 1 March 2016 to announce that the effect of the Local Housing Allowance cap for those living in social sector supported housing, including those with learning disabilities, would be deferred by a year, pending the outcome of a review. We have done this because we understand the importance of ensuring that both those living in supported housing and those who provide this type of accommodation receive appropriate protections. This is why we are awaiting the outcome of a “Supported Accommodation” research project and subsequent policy review, to ensure support is focused on the most vulnerable and appropriate groups are safeguarded.

Housing Benefit Cap Would Be The Death Knell For Supported Housing

Housing groups are anxiously lobbying the Government to reconsider proposals to cap Housing Benefit for new tenants in supported housing at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates. Supported housing provides specialist accommodation for older people, the mentally ill and people with disabilities. Experts warn that the LHA rate is insufficient to meet the housing costs of tenants in supported housing, and could leave schemes on the brink of collapse or only open to wealthier tenants. Around half of housing associations and social landlords provide supported housing, with 110,665 new tenancies granted in 2014/15. However, news of the new cap has resulted in supporting housing providers placing a hold on new developments. Read more on the Welfare Weekly website.

Disabled Couple Win Bedroom Tax Exemption - But Welfare Chiefs Appeal To Overturn Decision

A couple who beat the Bedroom Tax because of disability said they felt “betrayed” after welfare chiefs decided to try to overturn their court victory. Jacqueline Carmichael, 42, who has spina bifida, and Jayson, 52, won an exemption when a tribunal ruled the tax breached their human rights. The couple were penalised for having a spare room in their flat in Southport, Merseyside, even though wheelchair-bound Jacqueline’s condition makes it impossible for them to share a bedroom. The DWP will appeal. Mr Carmichael said: “We are shocked and saddened. Now we could be faced with a big bill if the Upper Tribunal overturn this decision.” Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

No Second Bedroom for Disabled Couple Is Discrimination

A tribunal has found a couple, who had been assessed as having one bedroom and one spare room, should qualify for local housing allowance (LHA) under the two-bedroom rate.   The couple were not able to share a room due to their disabilities. This was not taken into account by the local authority, and the second bedroom was treated as ‘spare’ for the calculation of LHA. But the judge in the appeal ruled applying the legislation in this way indirectly discriminates against couples who are disabled by not distinguishing them from able-bodied couples.  On this basis, he found a breach of article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which could not be justified. Read more on Inside Housing.

'It's not a bedroom tax' claims Freud as he faces angry protests from within and without

Lord Freud has faced a room full of social housing officials angry over the government's bedroom tax policy at the Chartered Institute of Housing conference, whilst a large group of protesters gathered outside. Speaking before an audience at the Manchester Central conference centre, the minister for welfare reform claimed that the policy "is not a bedroom tax" but a question of "how much money we can afford to give to people". Meanwhile outside, campaigners from across the country gathered to express their anger at the policy. Robert Punton, a disabled tenant from Birmingham, spoke to the crowd outside. He said: “Disabled people are just some of the government’s victims. The fact is, the coalition’s cuts are against everybody.

Council failed to properly accommodate disabled tenant while trying to save money

A council has been slammed by the Local Government Ombudsman (LGO) for leaving a disabled man in unsuitable accommodation for three years - because it wanted to save money. The LGO began an investigation after a complaint was made in November 2010 that Daventry District Council failed to deal properly with the man’s application to adapt his property. The changes were needed to create a downstairs bedroom for the complainant, who suffers with a degenerative medical condition and uses a wheelchair. The application met all the criteria for funding but because the estimated cost was in excess of the statutory maximum grant of £30,000, Daventry chose an alternative scheme through Northamptonshire County Council. The scheme could have paid for the work at no cost to the council but the application was delayed and was ultimately unsuccessful. The LGO found that the council should have considered making a discretionary grant to cover the shortfall in the initial scheme rather than pursuing the no-cost option for an unacceptable length of time.