Some Landlords Could Be Exempted From Rent Cut

Social landlords could be exempted from new rules forcing them to lower rents by 1% a year if such a move would threaten their financial viability. A clause in the Welfare Reform and Work Bill says social landlords could be exempted from the rent decrease if complying would ‘jeopardise’ their finances. The exemption would need to be approved by the secretary of state. Read more on Inside Housing.

Lib Dems Propose To Overhaul Bedroom Tax

The Liberal Democrats will pledge to scrap the bedroom tax for all but those who refuse a suitable and reasonable offer of alternative accommodation, Inside Housing has learned. The reform is the party’s preferred option for its 2015 manifesto, with leader Nick Clegg planning to announce it at a later stage. The move would represent a change of direction for the Liberal Democrats, which voted down a similar amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill in February 2012, after it had been introduced by the House of Lords. Read more on Inside Housing.

Bedroom Tax Protestors Target Lord Freud's House

Around 200 UK Uncut and Occupy London activists held a bedroom tax protest outside the London home of welfare reform minister Lord Freud. The demonstrators gathered at Kings Cross station before descending on the Highgate residence of the architect of the Welfare Reform Bill, and proceeded to throw an eviction-themed "Who Wants To Evict A Millionaire?" street party.

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Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made on the impact of the provisions of the Welfare Reform Bill on tenants who live in areas with a low supply of smaller living units for them to move into.

Steve Webb: It is not possible to predict with any accuracy how claimants might respond to the introduction of size criteria into the social rented sector. Some will not wish to move but make up the shortfall in rent through other means, such as moving into work, increasing working hours, taking in a lodger or using savings. Claimants facing a rent shortfall can also be considered for extra help through discretionary housing payments. We are increasing the discretionary housing payment fund by a further £30 million a year to specifically assist those in adapted properties and foster carers but the fund can also support others in vulnerable circumstances to remain in their home.

Welfare Bill to Become Law

The Welfare Reform Bill has completed its passage through parliament after Lord Freud appeased peers by promising to review the impact of the bedroom tax. The welfare reform minister told peers he accepted the penalty for under-occupation is a ‘big change’ and that research will be needed to understand its impact. ‘I am not yet in a position to provide the full details of that research project, but I can commit to bring forward fuller proposals when the regulations are debated after royal assent,’ he said. Lord Best had threatened to further delay the progress of the bill by forcing a vote on whether it should be amended to include a commitment to review the impact of the bedroom tax after six months. Read more on Housing News.

UK 'Risks' Breaching Guidelines on Disabled Rights

The UK is at risk of breaching UN guidelines on the rights of disabled people to live independently, according to a government report. The report, from the joint committee on human rights, said the government needs to implement freestanding legislation to protect the right to independent living and explore the ways the current benefit reforms affect the ability of disabled people to live an independent life. The MPs on the committee found that reductions in funding for local authorities, changes to disability living allowance under the Welfare Reform Bill, caps on housing benefit and the closure of the independent living fund risk leaving disabled people without the support they need to live independently. Download a copy of the report from the Parliament website.

Addressing Supported Housing Needs for Minority Ethnic Groups

The recent debates on the proposed changes to housing benefit in the welfare reform bill raise concerns about the impact of such changes on vulnerable and disadvantaged groups. This will include those in supported housing accommodation and black and minority ethnic communities. Supported housing covers a range of accommodation types and support to address the needs of a range of people. In Better Housing briefing paper Meeting the supported housing needs of black and minority ethnic communities, the Race Equality Foundation draws attention to discrepancies in the experiences of groups within these communities of supported housing. Evidence shows that people from minority groups may be more likely to require supported housing services and this is demonstrated in the areas of mental health, homelessness, domestic violence, older people and young parents outlined in the briefing. Download a copy of the briefing from the Race Equality Foundation website.

MPs Block Lords Welfare Challenge

MPs have overturned a series of defeats inflicted on the government's welfare reform bill in the House of Lords. The coalition won seven key votes in the Commons, rejecting amendments made by peers and reinstating their original proposals into the legislation. These include plans for a £26,000 annual limit on total household benefits, including child benefit. Ministers say they will use a rule known as "financial privilege" to ensure Parliament approves the cap.
This will mean the Lords cannot send the same amendments back to the Commons when they re-consider the bill for a final time, preventing what is known as "ping pong" between the two chambers and effectively ending parliamentary opposition. The measure, which the government says it will also apply to Lords amendments on employment and support allowance (ESA), relates to the principle that the Lords cannot oppose tax and spending decisions agreed by the Commons. Read more on the BBC website.

MPs Urged To Support Bedroom Tax Amendment

MPs have come under pressure to accept an amendment to the government’s plan for a ‘bedroom tax’. More than 70 family, disability and housing groups have written a joint letter urging MPs to accept the amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill. Under the government’s plans, 670,000 households – two-thirds containing a disabled family member – would lose an average of £670 a year in housing benefit because they are deemed to have one or more additional bedrooms. In December members of the House of Lords voted in favour of a cross-party amendment to exempt the ‘bedroom tax’ from families with just one additional bedroom where there are no alternative properties available. Read more on the NHF website.

Housing Analysts Warn On Future Homelessness

In the midst of fierce debates over the controversial Welfare Reform Bill, new analysis from CIH shows that the government’s welfare reforms and cuts in investment are bound to impact on the homelessness figures. The 20th annual UK Housing Review shows that across the UK statutory homelessness rose in 2010 for the first time since 2003. The report says big differences have emerged in approaches to dealing with homelessness across the UK. In England, two-thirds of homelessness is now dealt with outside the statutory rules, while in Scotland cases accepted under the statutory rules are actually growing. Partly as a consequence, England has made big cuts in its use of temporary accommodation while in Scotland the number of temporary housing placements has doubled since 2003. Read more on the CIH website.

Welfare Reform Bill: MPs Urged To Accept 'Bedroom Tax' Exemption

More than 70 family, disability and housing organisations have written a joint letter to MPs urging them to back an amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill that would exempt families with only one 'spare bedroom' from housing benefit cuts in 2013. The National Housing Federation - who has launched a campaign opposing the cuts - wants MPs to back the Lords amendment as the Bill returns to the House of Commons. Read more about the campaign on the NHF website.

Welfare Amendments Face Government Fight

The government will seek to overturn all amendments to the Welfare Reform Bill when it returns to the House of Commons later in the year. The government was defeated in December over plans for financial penalties for social housing tenants with spare rooms. An amendment tabled by Lord Best, which allows tenants one spare room if there is no other suitable accommodation was passed by the Lords in December. The government also lost three votes last week over plans to restrict Employment and Support Allowance. A Number 10 spokesperson said the cabinet has now agreed to seek to overturn the amendments in the Commons. Read more on Inside Housing.

Liberal Democrats Voice Fears on Housing Benefit Reform

The deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats has attacked the government’s plans to cap benefits as part of its overhaul of the welfare system. Simon Hughes told members of the party that the proposed cap ‘will break up families, as it will provide a financial incentive to be apart’. Mr Hughes added: ‘Under the plans as they stand, a couple with four children will see their benefits limited to £500. But if the parents live separately they will be able to claim up to £1,000. How will that support families? I call on the government to make clear, at the latest before the Welfare Reform Bill comes back to the House of Commons, what it intends to do to prevent the planned benefits changes from breaking up families and damaging the lives of literally hundreds of thousands of children.’ He told the BBC that, while he supported the principle of curbing spending on benefits, the current proposals were unfair. Read more on the Guardian website.

Housing Benefit Cuts Defeated By House of Lords

The government suffered the first of what may be a series of heavy defeats over the welfare reform bill when peers threw out plans to dock housing benefit from people who have spare bedrooms. Ministers had proposed that social housing tenants deemed to have one extra bedroom would lose £12 a week and people with two or more extra bedrooms £22 a week. But peers voted by 258 to 190 to limit the penalties to only those households with two or more spare bedrooms and those with one extra room who have been offered suitable alternative accommodation. The cost of the rebellion is put at £500m, but the government will overturn the vote when the bill returns to the Commons in the New Year. Read more on the Guardian website.

Spending Cuts Blamed For Rising Benefit Bill

Housing bodies have blamed swingeing government spending cuts for adding nearly £2 billion to the cost of housing benefit over the next five years. Despite plans outlined in the Welfare Reform Bill to reduce benefit expenditure, the forecast from the Office for Budget Responsibility showed the government will have to shell out an extra £1.9 billion to meet the expected increase in housing benefit claimants. In June 2010 the coalition promised to wipe £1.8 billion off the annual benefits bill, which stood at £22 billion for 2010/11, by the end of the current parliament. The increase in people claiming benefit is also likely to put pressure on social housing and council waiting lists. Read more on Inside Housing.

Lord Freud Resists Benefit Cap Amendments

Welfare reform minister Lord Freud has faced more questions in parliament from peers worried about the proposed benefit cap for workless households. The Welfare Reform Bill, which is currently going through the House of Lords, will cap total benefits. The bill will allow the government to determine how it sets the cap, and Lord Freud has said it intends to set it in line with median household earnings, which would be around £26,000 a year. Peers have warned the cap as it stands would disproportionately affect families with children. Amendments to exclude child benefit from the calculation of the cap, to implement a 26 week grace period and exemptions for carers and those in temporary accommodation, were among the amendments debated on Wednesday. Lord Freud said the amendments would ‘undermine the fundamental principles of the cap’. The amendments were withdrawn or not moved. Peers will not get a chance to vote on amendments until the report stage of the bill next month. Read more on Inside Housing.

Benefits Cap to Hit 5,000 Westminster Tenants

Up to 5,000 private tenants in Westminster are going to be directly affected by the benefits cap from 2013, according to the man responsible for housing in the borough. Jonathan Glanz, Cabinet Member for Housing and Property at Westminster Council, said he expected people to move to areas of affordability as a result of the measures. Under Government plans, an overall benefit cap of £500 a week will be implemented as part of the Welfare Reform Bill, expected to come in force in 2013. The law aims to simplify the benefits system by introducing a single universal credit. Mr Glanz said: “We have 5,000 tenants in the private sector, currently receiving housing benefit beyond the cap, which are going to be directly affected. But I don’t think that any of our social housing tenants are currently beyond the housing benefit cap.”
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Benefit Warning To 'Under-Employed' Tenants

Employed tenants could have their housing benefit cut if they do not work enough hours and do not look for more or better paid work. Iain Duncan Smith, work and pensions secretary, announced that under plans in the welfare reform bill, some claimants would be expected to take up full-time employment or work longer hours to stop them relying on benefits. The plans, which the DWP stressed were at an early stage, would take into account differing circumstances – meaning a single mother would not be expected to work as many hours as a 19-year-old capable man and only at a level which enables them to look after their child. If passed, the plans could be introduced from April 2013 with universal credit. The DWP said that people would have their housing benefit reduced if it was deemed they were able to work more hours but refused to look for more employment or a better paid job. The earning threshold for joint claimants, both of whom we expect to work full time - 35 hours a week - would be £420 per week while the threshold for a lone parent, who would be expected to work 20 hours a week, would be £120 per week. Read more on Inside Housing.

Government Rejects Direct Payment Amendment

Peers have failed in a bid to give tenants the right to have their housing benefit paid direct to their landlord. Crossbench peer Lord Best moved an amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill which would have guaranteed payment of housing benefit to the landlord if the tenant requests it. Landlords fear that lender confidence will be hit if, as the government plans, payment is made to tenants as it could reduce certainty over their cashflow. Lord Best cited research by consultancy Policis which found that 93 per cent of social tenants wanted housing benefit paid to their landlords. Read more on Inside Housing.

Lords Debate Underoccupancy Benefit Cut

Peers have called on the government to save social housing tenants with spare rooms from having their benefit cut if there is no other accommodation available. Labour peer Baroness Patricia Hollis tabled an amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill, which is being debated in the House of Lords. Baroness Hollis tabled a probing amendment stating that the regulations should be made “taking into account the availability of suitable accommodation.” She said: ‘It [the amendment], requires the social landlord, not the tenant to take responsibility. If the landlord does not have the stock to offer, the tenant should enjoy his current home with full housing benefit. If the landlord can offer appropriately sized stock by DWP standards, the tenant takes the housing benefit hit if they choose not to move.’ Read more on Inside Housing.