Social Housing Tenants Forced To Cut Back On Food And Heating

A damning new survey of ‘Quids in!’ readers reveals ongoing financial hardship among social housing tenants, as money worries leave some of the poorest and most vulnerable people in our society “hungry and cold”. The survey provides a snapshot into how Tory austerity has impacted on social housing tenants  over the last five years. It found that among working age tenants not in full-time employment, 44% skipped meals over the last year, while more than half (51%) were forced to turn off heating despite feeling cold. The survey also shows how money worries can have a detrimental impact on health and well-being, with 58% of those surveyed feeling frightened, anxious or depressed. Read more on Welfare Weekly.

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.

Landlords Reluctant To Rent To Young People Denied Housing Benefit

The Government’s proposal to abolish housing benefit for those aged 18 to 21 will make it far more difficult for them to rent a home, according to the Residential Landlords Association (RLA). In a survey of over 1,000 landlords, the organisation found that 76% will be reluctant to rent accommodation to this age group once it comes into effect in April, because they fear they may not have enough money to pay the rent. The survey also showed the “devastating effects” of the Government’s planned benefit cap, with over 65% of landlords being reluctant to let properties to tenants who are of working age and on benefits because the cap might affect their ability to meet rent costs. Furthermore, the RLA said its data showed that those under 35 may also face problems accessing rented accommodation. Read more on the RLA website.

Universal Credit Staff Vote To Strike over 'Inadequate' IT Systems

Universal Credit employees have voted to go on a two-day strike over inadequate IT systems and what they describe as an “increasingly oppressive working environment”. Staff in DWP centres in Glasgow and Bolton voted by 84 percent to go on strike over the troubled project, which aims to merge six working-age benefits into one. The PCS union has about 1,500 members across the two sites, representing over 80 percent of all staff, according to a spokesman.  Staff at the contact centres are responsible for taking calls from claimants, answering online enquires and processing claims. Their demands include “proper investment in IT and training”, an end to the “excessive target culture” and a “fundamental rethink of the new ways of working”. Read more on the Computer World website.

Poor Families Likely To Be Hit Unfairly By £12bn Welfare Cuts

David Cameron’s plans to focus £12bn of welfare cuts on slashing tax credits and other working-age benefits look set to be “extremely unfair” on the families who will lose money, the right-leaning Institute of Economic Affairs thinktank has said. The IEA supported the need for making savings in the welfare budget a spokesman said but the composition of the cuts “looks set to be extremely unfair on the working-age population”. He added: “Whilst important for getting cash to relatively poor families, tax credits discourage people from earning more money by creating high effective marginal tax rates, leading to bunching around part-time work hours. They could be reformed in a way which encourages full-time work. But simply salami-slicing the value of tax credits will hit certain households hard without creating this positive dynamic.” Read more on the Guardian website.

Conservative Conference 2014: Housing Roundup

Catch up with the most important housing stories to emerge from the Conservative conference 2014 with our at-a-glance roundup.

·         100,000 discount new homes for first-time buyers

·         Working-age benefits would be frozen until 2017

·         Benefit cap to be cut to £23,000

·         Rent-to-buy fund announced

·         Housing benefit scrapped for 18- to 21-year-olds

·         Prepaid benefit cards to replace cash

Read details of all the above on the Guardian website.

Working Poor Forced To Spend Half Their Income on Housing

Close to 1.6 million UK households – the housing pinched – are spending more than half their disposable income on the ongoing costs of housing each month.  Of the 1.6 million, retired households and working age households in which nobody works account for just over a third (7 per cent – 110,000 households – and 30 per cent – 480,000 households – respectively). Leaving these two groups aside, there remain close to 1 million working households who are spending over half their disposable income on housing costs. Data from the estate agent LSL Property Services showed rents rising more quickly than inflation, increasing by 2% since July 2013. The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML)have  also issued a warning on interest rates, despite reporting a fall in the number of borrowers struggling with repayments. Read more on the Resolution Foundation website.

Impact of Welfare Reform on Housing Associations

According to the latest Ipsos MORI survey of housing associations nearly three in five (58%) say they have been significantly affected by the introduction of the size criteria. The pattern of impact is however variable, with those operating in the north of England most likely to say they have been significantly affected.  At the time of the survey associations estimate that nearly one in five of their working age tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit are affected by the size criteria, and on average, more than a quarter (29%) have fallen into arrears since its introduction on 1st April 2013. Over half (53%) report increased difficulty in rent collection because of the size criteria. Download a copy of the report from the IPSOS Mori website.

Rural Communities Will Be Destroyed By the ‘Bedroom Tax’

The ‘bedroom tax’ will lead to the break-up of rural communities who are bearing the brunt of benefit cuts, a leading rural network has warned. Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) says the Government’s under-occupation charge for social housing tenants will force people to leave the villages where they grew up. The charity says a dearth of one and two-bedroom homes in the countryside means rural tenants have no choice but to move into towns and cities if they cannot make up the rent shortfall.

ACRE claims the Government failed to ‘rural proof’ the penalty, which cuts the benefits of tenants of working age in homes deemed to have spare rooms. Read more on the ACRE website.

Bedroom Tax Tenants Failing To Pay Rent

A housing association has revealed that half of its tenants affected by the bedroom tax have failed to cover the resulting shortfall in their rent.  South Yorkshire Housing Association has around 700 households affected by the spare room subsidy, commonly known as the bedroom tax, under which social tenants of working age deemed to have spare bedrooms have their benefit reduced. Half its 700 tenants who are affected have underpaid their rent by an average of £60.  Read more on Inside Housing.

What Does The Benefit Cap Mean For Cities?

First, the impact of the benefit cap will vary significantly between cities. Because it is being set nationally at £26,000 the vast majority of these households will be located in just a few cities, with around half estimated to live in London.

Second, the benefit cap is unlikely to encourage large numbers of people back to work. Many UK cities face the challenge of stubbornly high unemployment.  Research suggests that while these kinds of welfare sanctions may be successful in getting people off benefits, this may be because they drop out of the system altogether, rather than moving into sustainable employment.

Third, the benefit cap does nothing to change the fundamental factors driving up the cost of welfare across the country. For example, housing benefit payments represent the second largest proportion of welfare spending in the UK. They tend to be largest in those cities where house prices and rental rates have increased sharply over the past twenty years. This means that more people in these cities require financial support to find a home, and that the cost of this support is also increasing. Simply capping the total amount of benefits that working-age people can receive will not tackle this issue. Read more on the Centre for Cities website.

Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions which groups he proposes will be exempt from changes being applied to the underoccupancy penalty; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Webb: The under-occupancy reduction only applies to working age social sector tenants. However, people living in non-mainstream properties (for example mobile homes) and temporary or supported exempt accommodation will not be subject to a restriction.  Rather than exempting specific groups of claimant we are adding a further £30 million a year from 2013-14 to the discretionary housing payment fund that is administered by local authorities. This is aimed primarily at two groups, people in significantly adapted accommodation and foster carers.

Welfare Reform Impact Assessment

A survey of 232 housing associations has found on average registered providers expect arrears to rise by 51 per cent. Paying housing benefit direct to tenants rather than landlords is expected to have the biggest impact, with more than 80 per cent of housing associations saying this will affect them significantly. Twenty two per cent said the changes will make it harder for them to meet their loan covenants, with 10 per cent of those involved in the affordable homes programme saying direct payment will make it harder for them to deliver their house building commitments.  The under-occupation penalties for working-age families on housing benefit are the next greatest issue, with 60 per cent of associations raising concerns. This rises to 80 per cent for landlords operating in Yorkshire and Humberside, the east midlands, and east of England.  Download a copy of the report from the NHF website.

Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Sir Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if he will amend regulations on benefit levels for under-occupancy to allow people of non-retirement age with chronic life-threatening conditions to be considered on the same terms as those of retirement age in respect of their continued occupation of rented property.

Steve Webb: We considered a number of exemptions during formulation of the under-occupation policy but concluded that specific exemptions for different groups can be an inefficient and a complex way of targeting resources. We believe that Discretionary Housing Payments offer a better solution as local decision makers are best placed to make decisions on individual circumstances.  As part of the under-occupation measure we are adding £30 million a year to the Discretionary Housing Payment fund from April, £25 million of which is aimed at supporting disabled claimants living in adapted properties.

Universal Credit – Parliamentary Written Answer

John Glen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions with reference to the draft Universal Credit, Personal Independence Payment and Working Age Benefits (Claims and Payments) Regulations 2012, when his Department plans to provide a definition in law of the term vulnerable tenant for the purposes of determining eligibility for direct payments to landlords of the housing element of universal credit.

Steve Webb: We are not seeking to provide a definition in law of 'vulnerable tenants’ for the purposes of administering UC. Any attempt to do so would risk some people with needs failing outside of any definitions and thus not receiving the help that they may need. We accept that for a minority of claimants alternative payment arrangements may be required and this may include the payment of their housing costs (rent) direct to the landlord. This alternative payment arrangement will be considered on a case by case basis and assessed on their individual merits, and would be time-limited and delivered in conjunction with appropriate budgeting support to ensure claimants make a successful transition over time to monthly budgeting wherever possible.

Direct Housing Benefit Credits 'Could Push a Million into Debt'

A plan to make people financially responsible, by paying their housing benefit directly into their banks rather than to their landlords, risks backfiring, according to social policy experts. A report by the consultancy, Policis, estimates that 29% of the 3.5 million working-age residents in social housing in the UK – about one million people – risk falling into debt if their benefits are paid to them directly in a single monthly payment. Nine out of 10 social housing residents opt for their benefit to be paid to their landlord, while receiving other benefits weekly or fortnightly, to help them manage their finances.  Read more on the Observer website.

Universal Credit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Mr Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many working-age benefit and credit recipients will be on universal credit by 2017.

Mr Hoban: We anticipate that all working age benefit and tax credit recipients who are entitled to universal credit will have been migrated onto universal credit by the end of 2017. On current projections this means that around 8 million households will be in receipt of universal credit by 2017.

Government Fails in Bid to Block Council Tax Benefit Review

The Government has failed to block a bid by peers ordering Eric Pickles to commission a formal independent review of council tax support three years after its implementation.  The amendment - tabled by Labour peer Baroness Hollis of Heigham - was successfully voted in favour by peers - despite attempts by the Government to block it. Critics of the reform point out that cuts will be pushed onto low-income working age claimants as pensioners will be protected.  Thus, those who have never paid council tax could find they’re liable for payments of up to £200 a year.  Read more on 24dash.

Collection Rate of 35p Feared For Every £1 of Council Tax Levied

One local authority is forecasting a collection rate of just 35p for every £1 of council tax that will be levied on new payers as a result of the Government's welfare reforms.   The Government is abolishing the current council tax benefit scheme – claimed by nearly 6 million people – where councils receive rebates on the financial support they provide. Instead, it has told them to come up with their own schemes from next April, cutting expenditure by 10% and handing them the money to administer it. However, it is the order to protect pensioners from cuts that will force some local authorities to seek minimum contributions from working-age households. This could see those who have never paid council tax previously asked to pay close to £200 a year. Read more on 24dash.

Should Social Landlords Pass On The Bedroom Tax To Tenants?

The idea of social landlords reducing rents by universally reclassifying their properties against those hit by the bedroom tax may seem absurd, but let's do the maths.  We already know there aren't enough alternative one-bedroom properties for the 400,000 who qualify for them; there are only 60,000 relets of existing one bedroom properties each year.  Even if all one bedroom homes we have were only allocated to underoccupiers from now on, some would wait for seven years while being charged as much as £25 extra a week from an income of as little as £75. Add on council tax, utilities and existing debts, and it becomes an impossible, unaffordable situation for many.  The impact will be worst in the north of England, hit by higher levels of underoccupation and by other benefit cuts such as changes to employment and support allowance, tax credits, incapacity benefit and council tax. Recent estimates suggest that working age households will face an additional £4.50 a week in council tax, while across the north east of England 50,000 underoccupiers will need to pay an additional £30m a year in rent. The government's discretionary housing payment (DHP) fund stands at £1.25m, leaving a shortfall of at least £28m in help available for underoccupiers.  This won't improve much even when a promised DHP increase kicks in next year. Durham county council has estimated the impact of welfare reform as a whole on the local economy in 2013 at £150m, worse in following years. That's £150m less going into local pockets, businesses and services when it already has the highest worklessness and the lowest job creation rates in the country.  Read more of this opinion piece on the Guardian website.