Homeless Denied Social Housing For Being Too Poor

Homeless people are being denied access to affordable housing because social landlords are routinely excluding prospective tenants who are deemed too poor or vulnerable to pay the rent. Research by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) found that “screening out” of homeless applicants nominated for newly available lets was widespread, as housing associations and local authorities increasingly ration their shrinking stocks of social homes. In many cases nominees were refused a home because of the likelihood they would accrue major rent arrears after moving on to universal credit, because of the probability they would be hit by the bedroom tax or because the benefit cap had made them a financial risk. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/17/homeless-denied-housing-over-fears-they-are-too-poor-study-says

The Lower Overall Benefit Cap: What Do We Need To Know?

The government has confirmed that the new, lower overall benefit cap will be introduced from 7 November. It will see the total value of certain benefits that a working age household can receive reduced from £26,000 per year to £20,000 (or £23,000 in London). The new change will be significant as it will substantially increase the number of households affected. Government figures show that between April 2013 and November 2015, almost 70,000 households had their housing benefit reduced at some time as a result of the existing cap. However most of these were larger families living in relatively high cost parts of the country. Unsurprisingly the cap had the greatest impact in London, with 45 per cent of all those affected living in the capital.  Read more on the CIH website.

New Benefit Cap Means Workless Private Renters Now Banned From 92% of UK

A reduction in the benefit cap was a centre piece of the Tory manifesto in the run-up to May's election. Even as some other 'commitments' were downgraded the reduction in the cap from £26,000 per year to £23,000 is to be pushed through in the first year of parliament. For most claimants only housing benefit - the one part that varies according to cost - will be affected. Working people, most pensioners and many disabled people are exempt, regardless of the level of benefits they receive and ignoring the idea of affordability. This measure is targeted directly at unemployed people, the lepers of the welfare world.  This targeting of housing benefit means the cap is likely to affect claimants' homes and choice of accommodation more than any other aspect of their lives.

Read more on the Huffington Post website.

Reduced Benefit Cap Could Be the Killer Blow for Social Housing

The big housing story of the moment is the expansion of the right to buy, but the imminent cut in the benefit cap from £26,000 to £23,000 could have a far more devastating impact upon social landlords and tenants. In London, social landlords who have embraced the affordable rent programme – which can see social tenants charged far higher rents – could be very badly hit by an increase in arrears once tenants receiving housing benefit see their support cut by £3,000 a year. The overall benefit cap is popular among the wider public, but most people don’t realise that it only applies to those who, often through no fault of their own, are paying a high rent. Read more on the Guardian website.

Benefit Cap Is 'Social Justice in Action', Says IDS

The government’s benefit cap is an example of “social justice in action”, Iain Duncan Smith has said. The Work and Pensions Secretary claimed that his reduction in payments was providing people with a “clear path to fulfilling lives and independence from the state”. “Welfare reform is improving social mobility for families across the country,” he argued.  “A key example of this is the benefit cap which we brought in to put a stop to sky-high benefit pay-outs. Under the Bill, the cap will be lowered from £26,000 to £23,000.” Noting that a number of those who had been hit by the cap had found jobs, he said the cuts were not just about saving money but presented no evidence to establish that the households had found work because their benefits had been cut. Read more on the Independent website.

Hitlist of Welfare Cuts Facing Next Chancellor

A list of “very, highly or extremely controversial” potential cuts to benefits have been drawn up by civil servants in response to warnings that the next government would struggle to keep welfare spending below a legal cap of about £120bn a year. Options laid out include:

• employers to contribute more to the cost of statutory maternity pay – or abolish it entirely.

• Freezing benefit payments at current levels across the board.

• Limiting welfare payments by family size.

• Forcing single parents on income support to seek work when their youngest child reaches the age of three (currently five).

• Making it harder for sick people to claim state aid when they are out of work by introducing “stricter” fit-for-work tests and/or tighter limits on eligibility.

• Increasing the bedroom tax on certain categories of renters.

• Barring under-25s from claiming incapacity benefit or housing benefit.

Read more on the Guardian website.

Tories Plan to Slash Benefit Cap

David Cameron has said Tory plans for a fresh squeeze on benefits if he regains power at the general election in May are a "basic issue of fairness". The Prime Minister has indicated that he would act "within the first few days" of forming a new government to reduce the annual benefits cap introduced by the Coalition from £26,000 to £23,000. He said the savings generated would provide another £135 million towards funding three million apprenticeships by 2020. Mr Cameron rejected claims that the new cap would plunge more families into poverty, saying members of the public had repeatedly complained that it had been set too high. Read more on the Daily Mail website.

Chancellor’s Welfare Cuts Won’t Solve Housing Crisis Or Ease Poverty

George Osborne’s proposed crackdown on welfare benefits might have played well to the crowd at the Conservative Party conference, but it hasn’t gone down so well among housing professionals. The Chancellor announced a further reduction in the benefit cap limiting the amount of state assistance a household can receive – from £26,000 to £23,000. He also announced a two-year freeze on benefits: Job Seekers’ Allowance, Income Support, tax credits, Housing and child benefits. The proposals have caused some concern at the CIH, which said the Chancellor’s welfare package “fails to reflect the reality of the housing crisis”. “We are not building enough homes, which means the cost of housing and therefore the housing benefit bill is going up. Millions of people have no choice but to rely on housing benefit to secure a roof over their head. The number of people in work who still have to claim housing benefit has more than doubled from around 445,000 to just over a million in the last five years,” said Grainia Long, the CIH’s chief executive. Read more on the Housing Excellence website.

Council Spends £3 Million to Protect Vulnerable Residents from Bedroom Tax and Benefit Cap

A London council facing an investigation by Eric Pickles into allegations of fraud and poor financial management has announced it spent £3 million protecting the borough's most vulnerable from the bedroom tax and other welfare reforms. DWP figures show that 2,510 residents were impacted by the bedroom tax in Tower Hamlets, losing an average of £1,096 a year. The council softened the blow by making sure that 1,157 of the most affected households avoided eviction by being given help with their rent arrears. Meanwhile, residents losing an average of £84 per week from the introduction of the benefit cap were also supported with over £800,000 of help. Read more on the Tower Hamlets website.

Hopkins and Freud Face Commons Inquiry into Housing Costs

Housing Minister Kris Hopkins and Lord Freud have been called to give evidence to a House of Commons inquiry into housing costs on 12 February. The Work and Pensions select committee will question the minister on a range of subjects including:

• How the government intends to support vulnerable people affected by the bedroom tax and the benefit cap

• Government plans to ensure all supported accommodation is exempt from the bedroom tax and the benefit cap

• Affordability of suitable accommodation in the private sector for housing benefit claimants

• Discretionary housing payment allocations and sufficiency of funds in the future

Read more on 24dash.

IDS Hints at Cut in the Benefit Cap

One of the welfare cuts that George Osborne is most likely to make if the Tories win the next election is a reduction in the household benefit cap of £26,000. The most recent YouGov poll found that 76% of the public support a cap of £26,000 and that 49% favour one of £15,000. Asked by Tory MP Andrew Bridgen at Work and Pensions questions whether the benefit cap would be reduced, Iain Duncan Smith replied: "we will keep the policy under review", a clear hint that the government is considering a cut.  While the cap might appear generous, it's important to remember that those households who receive £26,000 do so due to high rents and/or an above average number of children; the government's Impact Assessment found that 52% of those families affected have four or more children. Read more on the New Statesman website.

The Household Benefit Cap - Commons Library Standard Note

The Housing Benefit (Benefit Cap) Regulations 2012 introduced the cap on household benefits from 15 April 2013 in the London boroughs of Croydon, Enfield, Haringey and Bromley. National roll-out was managed over a 10 week period split into two tranches:

• Tranche 1 included all local authorities with 275 affected households or fewer - capping commenced in these areas on 15 July 2013;

• Tranche 2 included all local authorities with 276 or more households to be capped and commenced from the week of 12 August 2013.

The Universal Credit Regulations 2013 provide for an overall benefit cap within Universal Credit (UC). UC is being phased in between October 2013 and 2017.  The note explains how the cap operates and summarises reactions to it, including attempts to amend the cap as the Welfare Reform Act progressed through the House of Lords. Download a copy of the note from the Parliament website.

Benefit Cap – Final Stage Starts

The benefit cap started in the final council areas on 12 August 2013 and will be completed nationally by the end of September.  The benefit cap is now in place in 340 local authority areas across the country and will be completed nationally by the end of September 2013.  In total around 40,000 households will have their benefits capped.  Read more on the Govuk website.