Birmingham City Council recorded a huge increase in the number of people seeking help to pay their rent in the first two weeks after government welfare reforms came into effect.
The council says almost 2,000 applications were made for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) in the first two weeks of April – 50% more than for the whole of the first quarter of 2012-13.
Fraud and error in the benefit system stands at £3.5bn or 2.1% of total benefit expenditure, latest figures from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show.
Preliminary estimates for fraud and error in 2012/13 show £1.2bn of benefit spending is lost due to fraud, £1.6bn due to claimant error, and £0.7bn due to official error.
Letting agents have criticised the Government’s flagship ‘build to rent’ policy, describing it as a “ludicrous” intervention in the sector.
A survey of over 250 agents by Leeds company Morgans in conjunction with software supplier LetMC, found unhappiness over the Government’s approach.
The government is expected to seek to restrict migrants’ access to social housing and benefits in measures to be outlined tomorrow.
Tomorrow’s Queens speech will include an Immigration Bill. This is expected to include measures to limit the access that migrants have to health services, benefits and social housing. There will also be measures to make it easier for foreign criminals to be deported.
A new report from Shelter that claims to have uncovered the damage done to children who grow up in private rental homes has hit controversy.
The report, Growing up renting, claims that children pay the price for insecure tenancies, high rents and constant moves that Shelter says are standard in today’s market. Some tenants have nowhere to go between tenancies and families end up sofa-surfing.
Letting agents in London were targeted on Saturday in an angry city-wide protest by demonstrators.
Some who had got wind of the ‘Let Down’ demonstration beforehand decided to stay shut for the day while Foxtons, in Brixton, reportedly hired security officers. Others locked their doors as the protesters tried to enter and make agents answer their ‘survey’.
Housing benefit payments will be sent directly to landlords after tenants have gone into two months of arrears during the Universal Credit (UC) pathfinders.
A circular published by the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) said: “Landlords can refer rent arrears cases to Universal Credit; those which are under two months’ rent will trigger Universal Credit to contact the claimant to discuss their non-payment as part of the Personal Budgeting Support process, where as those with over two months arrears will be switched to direct rent payment automatically and relevant budgeting support activity arranged subsequently.”
Universal credit will lead to an average increase in rent arrears of £180 for each tenant, according to law firm Winckworth Sherwood.
A major shake-up of the benefits system began yesterday with a pilot involving new claimants in Ashton-under-Lyne in Greater Manchester. Universal credit will merge several benefits and tax credits, including housing benefit, into one monthly payment.
The government's new Universal Credit (UC) system has begun to be rolled-out today, in four North West towns.
The reformed benefit programme will be introduced in four jobcentres in parts of Oldham, Ashton-under-Lyne, Wigan and Warrington.
The number of new applicants seeking to rent in March was up 21% from February, with demand outstripping supply as the number of available homes to rent rose only 5%.
According to Sequence – part of Connells – average rents for March were £704, unchanged from February. London rents averaged £1,375, almost twice the national average.
Rent paid in advance does NOT count as a deposit, the Court of Appeal has ruled.
The landmark ruling means that landlords and agents are not obliged to treat rent paid in advance as a deposit which requires protection under the Housing Act 2004.
Housing charity Shelter has reported a surge in demand for its homelessness advice services.
In the last year, the charity has recorded a 40% rise in the numbers of callers in England needing help with housing costs, arrears and other debt issues, while in the last six months, visitors to its online housing costs advice service have doubled.
Edinburgh Council has adopted a ‘no eviction’ policy for tenants affected by the ‘bedroom tax’.
The local authority agreed that ‘where the director of services for communities was satisfied that tenants who were subject to the under-occupation charge had done all they reasonably could to avoid falling in to arrears, then all legitimate means to collect rent arrears should be utilised except eviction’.
Bedroom tax protestors have hit the homes of Poole councillors with 'eviction notices' and police tape.
Only Conservative members of Borough of Poole Council were targeted in the protest, which is being investigated by the police.
The first four councils to test the government’s new benefit cap have warned they have not received enough money to implement the changes.
Enfield, Croydon, Haringey and Bromley councils on Monday became the first local authorities to implement the £26,000-a-year benefit cap. The councils must identify who is eligible for the cap and administer the new system.
Housing benefit tenants looking for private rental properties have soared over recent months, with demand heavily outstripping supply.
Searches on a specialist website, Dssmove, have increased by 400% in three months for properties in London and the home counties, but demand is also up elsewhere.
Half of landlords do not use agents, new research from an independent marketing consultancy has said.
While other estimates put the proportion of private landlords using agents at 60%, the BDRC Continental Landlords Panel puts it at 50% – suggesting the possibility of significant more growth for agents.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has today awarded a £38 million contract to modernise and grow the credit union industry.
The Association of British Credit Unions (ABCUL) is the successful bidder to deliver the DWP’s project, which is designed to help meet the growing demand for modern banking products for people on low incomes.
The government's cap on benefits begins today across four London boroughs.
The cap means that families in Enfield, Haringey, Bromley and Croydon will not be able to claim more than £500 per week, whilst single people will not be able to claim more than £350.
Similarly, over a third (35 percent) of people in England currently receiving council tax benefit said they are not aware that they may be required to pay more or all of their council tax from this April. Over two thirds (68 percent) said that they would have to cut back on heating and food if they had to pay more toward their council tax bill.
Turn2us is running its third annual Benefits Awareness Month campaign this April to encourage people in financial need to check their entitlements and prepare for the significant changes to the benefit system that are coming into effect.