Housing Association Secures Refunds for 788 Bedroom Tax Tenants

A Kent housing association has used its unique ‘unregistered’ status to secure 788 tenants bedroom tax refunds worth in total more than £500,000. MHS Homes, which owns 8,500 homes, used a loophole to persuade Medway Council to reverse the benefit cut imposed on tenants deemed to have spare rooms. MHS was able to exempt its tenants from the bedroom tax because although it is a large scale voluntary transfer (LSVT) association, it is unusual in not being registered as a provider with the HCA. Because of MHS’s LSVT status, its tenants are also exempt from local housing allowance restrictions (LHA). It is the only landlord in the country whose tenants are exempt from both bedroom tax and LHA limits. Read more on Inside Housing.

Council Takes £2m from HRA

The Audit Commission has accused Medway Council of ignoring the advice of its external auditors by shifting £2 million from a ‘ring-fenced’ housing budget to its general fund. The Kent authority’s chief executive employed ‘special urgency’ powers in September to raid its housing revenue account, council papers from last month reveal. Such powers allow senior officials to make urgent decisions which are approved later by councillors. The £2 million raid makes Medway the fifth council to sanction such controversial transfers on the advice of consultancy Capita. The CLG is probing the ‘appropriateness’ of the move. In total, £37.5 million is now known to have been taken from council housing budgets during September before the legal ‘loophole’ pinpointed by Capita was sealed by the government on 1 October. Read more on Inside Housing.