Discretionary housing help held back to stop bedroom tax ‘buy out’
Councils asking for additional cash to support tenants hit by welfare reform had their funding capped because the government believed they would buy their way out of the bedroom tax.
The government’s controversial bedroom tax has failed to ease under-occupancy in the social housing sector, its main aim, a report has revealed.
The 'Here and There: One year of the Bedroom Tax' report, composed by six housing associations, is the first to analyse a complete year’s data on the impact the under-occupancy policy has had on tenants.
Ministers’ attempts to slash fraud and error in the benefits system could be undermined because of uncertainty over how the housing element of universal credit will work, MPs have warned.
The work and pensions select committee said in a report today it was unclear how officials would be able to cross-check universal credit claims against other information to prevent benefit fraud and error.
The National Landlords Association has responded to the Labour party’s proposals for the private rented sector, branding them “poorly thought through and completely unworkable”.
Ed Miliband announced last week that three-year tenancies would become the norm if Labour came to power, rents would be controlled, and letting agent fees to tenants would be banned.
A controversial story recently broke about locals in Newham in receipt of housing benefits. Newham council was looking at sending families in receipt of DSS to other parts of the country as there were not enough landlords who were willing to accept such tenants. The controversial move should never have been necessary. The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is set at the 30th percentile of local rents, which means that, in theory, three out of ten properties should be available to DSS tenants. In practice, many of the homes which should be readily available are owned by landlords who are unwilling to accept LHA dependent applicants, due to mortgage stipulations or social snobbery. However, if you’re in receipt of housing benefits, all is not lost…
The Department for Work and Pensions has today published a new guide for local authorities and social landlords to help them understand arrangements for the payment of housing benefit under universal credit for people in temporary accommodation.
Q. Why has the Department for Work and Pensions decided to make payments of the housing element in Universal Credit directly to claimants in temporary accommodation?
Boris Johnson has today pledged to undertake a strategic role on surplus public land to "turbo boost" housing development in London.
The pledge comes as the London mayor publishes his updated housing strategy. Measures include:
Housing charity Shelter has launched a new project to help homeless families in Hackney.
With the number of families declared homeless in the London borough soaring by 19% last year, the Hackney Family Service offers intensive support to the families most at risk of losing their home.
The number of homeless families with school-age children being housed outside London by their local authorities has soared dramatically over the last four years.
Figures obtained by London Assembly Green Party member Darren Johnson show that 21 families were shifted outside the capital in 2010/11 but that the number had risen to 222 in the first three quarters of 2013/14 - a 1,000% increase.
The Welsh government has been slammed for making little progress with a scheme to bring void houses back into use.
Peter Black, the Welsh Liberal Democrats' housing spokesperson, has expressed concerns after recent statistics showed that the government's 'Houses into Homes' scheme has brought only 313 empty properties back into use during the 18-months between its launch and September 2013.