Social Rented Housing: Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department arising from application of the under-occupancy penalty in each of the last three financial years.

Justin Tomlinson: The estimated savings from the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy policy in each of the last three financial years is as follows:

• £490 million in 2013/14;

• £525 million in 2014/15; and

• £560 million in 2015/16.

Social Rented Housing: Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Stephen Timms:  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average reduction in benefits was for claimants subject to the under-occupancy penalty in each of the last three financial years.

Justin Tomlinson: The average weekly reduction for claimants subject to the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy for each of the last three financial years was as follows:

• £14.42 in 2013/14;

• £14.92 in 2014/15; and

• £15.25 in 2015/16.

Local Housing Allowance – Parliamentary Written Answer

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 17 February 2016 to Question 26467, what his policy is on the process by which local authorities should calculate the maximum local housing allowance for properties in their area.

Justin Tomlinson: Local Housing Allowance rates for each Broad Rental Market Area are calculated by the Rent Officer Services for England, Scotland and Wales. Rent Officers collect evidence of achieved rents in each area and use this to calculate the 30^th percentile from a ‘list of rents’ for each property size. This is then used for setting the rates annually in accordance with current Government policy for uprating Local Housing Allowance. From April 2016, Local Housing Allowance rates will be frozen for 4 years. This means that rates will either remain at the April 2015 level or be set at the 30^th percentile from the ‘list of rents’, whichever is the lower.

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.