Councils Struggle To Find Homes For 40% Of People Since Introduction Of Homelessness Reduction Act

Nearly 40% of people who approached their council to secure housing since the introduction of the Homelessness Reduction Act (HRA) ended up in a worse or similar position, a new report by Crisis has found. Based on 984 surveys and 89 in-depth interviews, the report found that 373 individuals (38%) who approached their councils for help since the introduction of the HRA in 2017 either remained without housing or saw themselves moving from being housed to sleeping rough or sofa-surfing. Of those who said that their housing situation did not improve, 66% were single and 45% were single men. Download the report from the Crisis website.

https://www.crisis.org.uk/ending-homelessness/homelessness-knowledge-hub/services-and-interventions/a-foot-in-the-door-experiences-of-the-homelessness-reduction-act-2020/

Fears Over 'LHA Cap' Impact On Under-35s

Eight in 10 housing benefit awards for single social tenants under the age of 35 are over the proposed ‘Local Housing Allowance (LHA) cap’, according to research by Shelter. The charity has used government figures to quantify the potential impact on young single people of plans to cap housing benefit for social tenants in line with LHA rates. Single people under 35 would only be allowed to claim the shared accommodation rate which is often lower than housing benefit awards. The policy only applies to new tenancies from April 2016 and does not kick in until 2018. Shelter analysis shows 136,191 housing benefit awards made to single under-35s in social housing in August last year were over the LHA cap. This is 76% of the total number of single under-35s in social housing claiming housing benefit. Read more on the Shelter blog.

Social Rented Housing: Waiting Lists – Parliamentary Written Answer

Emily Thornberry:   To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many single people under the age of 35 with no dependent children are registered on waiting lists for social housing.

Brandon Lewis: In 2013-14, there were around 91,000 single people under the age of 35 with no dependent children on at least one social housing waiting list in England. This is down from 124,000 in 2004-5 and 110,000 in 2010-11. (Source: English Housing Survey, Department for Communities and Local Government).

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to paragraph 1.125 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, whether the cap on housing benefit for single claimants under 35 will apply to those in receipt of disability benefits.

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 cap for similar tenants living in the social rented sector.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Alex Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the availability of shared accommodation for single people under 35 in receipt of the shared accommodation rate of housing benefit.  

Steve Webb: No assessment has been made of the availability of shared accommodation for single people under 35. However the Department has commissioned a major independent evaluation of the changes to local housing allowance, including the impacts on single people under 35. The interim report was published last year and can be found at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/monitoring-the-impact-of-changes-to-the-local-housing-allowance-system-of-housing-benefit-interim-report-rr-838

The final report from the evaluation is due to be published in the summer.

No Room Available: Study of the Availability of Shared Accommodation

Just 1.5 per cent of rental properties are available to single people on benefits, according to research from homelessness charity Crisis.  The charity for single homeless people organised ‘mystery shoppers’ to pose as renters looking for a room in shared properties in the private rented sector in Birmingham, Leeds and Lewisham.  Of the 4,360 rooms advertised, only 13 per cent were priced within the benefits rates and of these 66 (1.5 per cent) were owned by landlords willing to rent to benefit claimants.  Download a copy of the report – No Room Available – from the Crisis website.

Lord Best Calls for Council Tax Rise for Single People

Single-person households would pay more council tax to spare millions of working age people from having their benefit slashed under proposals from Lord Best. The government plans to scrap council tax benefit from April 2013 and replace it with a grant that covers only 90 per cent of the cost.  Working-age claimants face much higher cuts than pensioners who are untouched by the reform. Landlords have raised concerns this could lead to tenants struggling to pay their rent.  Lord Best is seeking cross-party support to amend the Local Government Finance Bill in the autumn to allow councils to reduce the 25 per cent council tax discount for single-person households. He believes this would allow councils to redistribute money from non-benefit claimant council tax payers without having to cut support for low-income households.  Read more on Inside Housing.