Benefits Cap Affects 77,000 Households

The Department for Work and Pensions has published the figures for households that have had their benefits capped between 15th April 2013 and November 2019. In total:

·         77,000 households had their benefits capped: 37,000 had Housing Benefit capped and 40,000 had Universal Credit capped at November 2019.

·         3,000 fewer households had their benefits capped: 6,600 (15%) fewer households had Housing Benefit capped, whilst 3,600 (10%) more households had Universal Credit capped at November 2019 compared to August 2019.

·         290,000 households have been capped: 220,000 have had Housing Benefit capped and 77,000 have had Universal Credit capped at some point between April 2013 and November 2019.

Read more on the DWP website.

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/863805/benefit-cap-statistics-november-2019.pdf

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

Government Urged To Lift Housing Benefits Cap As 1 Million Families Face Homelessness

The Government must lift the cap on housing benefits or see a million households facing homelessness within the next two years, politicians and campaigners have warned. In a cross-sector letter, shared exclusively with The Independent, more than 30 homeless charities, faith leaders and MPs have issued a direct warning to the Chancellor. Abandoning the freeze on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) for private renters is “essential” in order for low-income families to avoid homelessness, they wrote. Read more on the Independent website.

Government Drops LHA Cap Plans In Huge Climbdown

The government has dropped plans to cap housing benefit in the social housing sector at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates in a huge climbdown following widespread criticism. The plans to introduce the LHA cap for both general needs social housing and supported housing will be dropped. The future funding model for supported housing will be revealed next Tuesday (31 October). The sector had been anxiously awaiting an update from government on their future plans for supported housing after a green paper was promised in the spring but had yet to materialise. The prime minister said: “We will not apply the Local Housing Allowance cap to supported housing – indeed we will not be implementing it in the wider social housing sector, and the full details will be made available when we publish our response to the consultation” Read more on Inside Housing.

U-Turn On Housing Benefit Cap For Mentally Ill And Elderly

Plans to cap housing benefit for thousands of mentally ill, elderly and other vulnerable people in supported housing are to be re-examined after protests by MPs and charities. The rethink also follows evidence from the NHF, which found that 85% of schemes to build new supported and sheltered homes for vulnerable people have been shelved by housing associations because of fears that the new funding system will make them unsustainable. More than 700,000 people in supported housing usually have the accommodation element of their costs met entirely through housing benefit. But under plans announced by the government in 2015, and due to be introduced from next year, these payments would be capped in the same way as for people renting in the private sector. Read more on the Observer website.

Capping Aspiration: The Millennial Housing Challenge

The government’s plans to cap housing benefit at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) levels would lock 84% of young people in low-paid, insecure jobs out of all housing options in the South East. This is the warning from research by Sheffield Hallam University for the Consortium of Associations in the South East (CASE). CASE members said the government should reconsider using the shared accommodation rate as the maximum level for housing benefit for under-35s. Instead, it should give associations and local authorities the freedoms and flexibilities to continue to meet the housing needs of this group, the report said. Researchers said in their report Capping aspiration: the millennial housing challenge that some 84% of people aged under 35 in the South East would be affected when benefits are capped from April 2019. Download the report from the Sovreign website.

MPs Urge Government To Drop LHA Cap Plan For Supported Housing

MPs are calling on the government to abandon plans to base supported housing funding on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates. A joint report by the CLG and DWP Committees on the future of supported housing finds LHA rates are an “inappropriate starting point” for a new funding model. It argues instead for a new supported housing allowance, banded to reflect the actual cost of different types of provision.  The government plans to cap housing benefit for supported housing at the LHA rate from April 2019, with local authorities providing top-ups for costs above this rate. But the committees found that, unlike the LHA rate, the cost of provision is largely consistent across the country so some areas will rely on top-ups more than others. Read more on the ARCH website.

Housing Benefit: Supported Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Ms Angela Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect on funding for housing benefit for residents in supported housing of capping that benefit in line with local housing allowance levels from 2019-20.

Caroline Nokes: In his Written Ministerial Statement to the House of Commons on 15th September 2016 the Secretary of State confirmed that the new funding model will ensure that the supported housing sector will be funded at the same level it would have otherwise been in 2019/20, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents.

Families Left With Just 50p A Week In Housing Benefit After Cuts

Forty-two Grimsby-area families have been left with 50p or less a week in Housing Benefit, following rules that brought in a lower cap for claimants. In November, the benefit cap - which limits the amount a household is able to claim in benefits from the Government - was lowered to £20,000 a year for families living outside London. North East Lincolnshire Council estimates that 45 households are now losing Housing Benefit under the new cap. Combined, they received £3,109.06 in Housing Benefit per week before the tighter cap came into force. After the cap tightened, that went down to a total of just £79.86, a reduction of £3,029.20 per week. Read more on the Grimsby Telegraph website. 

Housing Benefit: Sheltered Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Steve McCabe:  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to exempt sheltered housing tenants from the housing benefit cap.

Caroline Nokes: The Secretary of State announced in a Written Ministerial Statement on 15 September 2016 that we would be deferring the application of Local Housing Allowance Rates in the social sector for supported housing which includes sheltered housing until 2019/20. At this point we will bring in a new funding model which will ensure that the sector continues to be funded at current levels, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents. The Secretary of State also announced that a formal consultation would be published shortly.

The Government Has Left Older People's Sheltered Housing In Limbo

Anxiety around the government’s proposal to cap housing benefit for tenants in sheltered housing has been growing ever since it was mooted, almost a year ago. The announcement on 15 September by the work and pensions secretary Damian Green did nothing to quell those fears. Indeed, older people and providers of specialist housing are now faced with an even longer period of uncertainty. Possibly the most shocking thing about the lengthy statement is the fact that it managed to omit any mention at all of older people. Read the full statement on the Parliament website.

NHF Campaigns Against Housing Benefit Cap Threat

Thousands of vulnerable people living in supported housing in the North of England are at risk of losing their homes because of a proposed cap on Housing Benefit that will leave them short on their rent. Rents are typically higher for such homes compared to general needs properties because of the specialist support that is provided for residents, but the Government proposes to limit the amount of Housing Benefit social tenants can claim to bring it in line with the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) paid to tenants in the private sector. In Yorkshire and Humber, there are more than 34,000 living in this type of housing, more than half of whom are older people. The estimated £68 a week shortfall in Housing Benefit would mean that vulnerable residents need to find an extra £3,500 a year to cover their rent. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Benefit Cap Puts Supported Housing At Risk

Council leaders have called for supported housing to be exempt from the housing benefit cap to prevent the most vulnerable people from losing their homes. The Government will decide in July whether the housing cap will apply to supported accommodation. However, the Local Government Association (LGA) warned those living in this type of housing would be unlikely to have enough money to cover the higher rental costs.This could see councils having to find other suitable accommodation for tenants, and some people may even be forced to remain in hospital due to a lack of homes. The LGA also said the cap could force many supported housing schemes to close if it was applied to them. Read more on the LocalGov website.

Housing Benefit: Shared Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Neil Coyle:  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will review the way in which the shared accommodation rate is calculated to mitigate the effect of the housing benefit cap in the social sector.

Justin Tomlinson: There are no current plans to review how the shared accommodation rate is calculated within the Local Housing Allowance scheme. For those under 35, not in supported housing, the existing exemptions that already apply to the shared accommodation rate for private rented sector tenants will be applied to the social sector as a minimum.

Social Housing Benefit Cap Will Put Thousands On Streets

Thousands of homeless people will be evicted from hostels and supported housing as a result of government plans to cap housing benefit payments to vulnerable tenants, charities are warning. The St Mungo’s charity said the local housing allowance (LHA) cap would lead to widespread bed closures, triggering a massive increase in rough sleeping. It runs more than 2,000 supported housing units in London and the south-east, where housing, support and sometimes care services are provided as an integrated package. The warnings come amid increased concern over rising homelessness. The latest official figures show a doubling in the number of rough sleepers since 2010. Read more on the Observer website.

Minister Announces Year-Long 'LHA Cap' Exception

A limit on housing benefit in line with Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates will not now apply to supported housing tenancies taken out before April 2017. In a written statement to parliament today, Justin Tomlinson, a DWP minister, said the ‘LHA cap’ would apply to new supported housing tenancies starting from April 2017, instead of April 2016 as originally intended. The year-long exception will allow ministers to analyse the results of a research project into supported housing costs before new tenants are affected. Although new supported housing tenancies in the 2016/17 financial year will not now be affected, the actual cut in benefit for all other new social housing tenancies, and for new supported tenants after April 2017, will still take place from April 2018 as planned. Read the full statement on the Parliament website.

Protect Housing For Vulnerable People

CIH is urging Chancellor George Osborne to use next month’s (March) Budget to exclude supported housing from plans to cap housing benefit for social housing at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates (the amount of housing benefit people living in the private rented sector are able to claim). CIH’s budget submission details the potential impact on people who live in supported housing and the social landlords which provide it. One local authority estimated that new tenants in one of its extra care schemes would be left with a shortfall of up to £67 a week. A social landlord with a large care and support arm estimated that it will cost them upwards of £18m a year – making schemes unviable – while another said it would be left with a £9.5m shortfall. Read more on the CIH website.

Housing At Risk For More Than 400,000 Vulnerable People

Ninety-five percent of supported housing providers would be forced to close housing schemes for vulnerable and older people if a planned housing benefit cap goes ahead. The capping of housing benefit at local housing allowance levels for social housing tenants, announced in the chancellor’s spending review, represents a major threat to the financial viability of such schemes because the intensive housing management required is paid for by charging higher rents. These rents are covered by housing benefit for those residents unable to work. More than 440,000 vulnerable people, many of them pensioners, live in housing association homes that are now at risk across England. These include sheltered housing and extra care for frail elderly people, and supported housing schemes for people recovering from alcohol and substance misuse, young people leaving care and women fleeing domestic violence. Read more on the Guardian website.

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.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Rebecca Long Bailey:  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 10 December 2015 to Question 18555, whether he is consulting on what exemptions should apply to the cap on housing benefit for single under-35 claimants in social housing; and whether changes to the applications of that cap will be implemented through new regulations.

Justin Tomlinson: The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants aged less than 35 will be carefully considered prior to implementing the Local Housing Allowance rate for similar tenants living in the social rented sector. Consultation forms a part of the policy development. This change will require legislative amendments