Housing Benefit and those that live in council houses to big for them.

dcems

Maybe,I can check at work and post back tomorrow,unless someone else can confirm before hand !;)

sock-knitter

i am currently in a three bed house and now live alone, as my kids have flown the nest.
the council have told me i can only bid on bungalows, flats or maisonettes, some of these have 3 bedrooms too, and i can apply for them, yet i can not apply for a two bedroomed house

iluvmarmite

The exact same thing happened to my Husband and myself, we were in a 3 bed house, the kids left home and with just us there was no need for it, we told the housing company that we wanted to downsize to a one bed (two reasons, we didnt need a 3 bed and if we had a one bed place the kids couldnt come home again lol) but they kept saying we were adaquatly housed so were not a priority, she made it sound like we were asking to go on the list again, I tried to explain that we would not be taking a house away from someone but giving one up to a family that needs it. We had to bid on properties and it took 3 years before we were finaly accepted for a one bed ground floor flat with a garden.

I really dont understand it all, surely giving up a 3 bed to go to one bed is a good thing as there are so many families on the list in temp accomodation so if you want to down size they should be happy to do it straight away and not wait years and keep families with kids in b&bs.

MsShorty

AFAIK the government is planning to bring in new housing benefit rules for those under-occupying social housing, similar to those currently in place in the private sector.

These changes will result in a reduction in eligible rent/housing benefit, according to the number of bedrooms by which the property is under-occupied.

As I understand it, the government are currently planning to bring in these changes in April 2013.

I am a tenant of social housing, living with two teenage sons in a 3-bedroom property. As my elder son plans to go away to uni in 2013, this will leave my house under-occupied, (in the eyes of the goverment), while he is away at uni.

I will be watching this space closely.........

chocolate_sausage

The article below was in the Times i think you will see it addresses social housing as a target , sorry to say the Tories have Social Housing very much in their sights , the usual tactic of oh it wont affect current tenants and a web of complexity will let it slip under the door relatively unchallenged .





Government plans to force tenants out of homes deemed ‘too big’ for them and into smaller ones could end up costing more due to a lack of available social housing, it has been claimed.

The Department of Work and Pension is proposing to slash the housing benefit for people ‘under-occupying’ properties, meaning the tenant will have to pick up the shortfall or leave their home.
The would see households with one spare room lose 15 per cent of their housing benefit and those with two or more spare rooms lose 25 per cent.
The NHF says the measure could cost the government more as 180,000 tenants are currently under-occupying two bedroom homes, but only 68,000 one bedroom social housing homes were available in 2009/10.

Many single parents will be pushed away from friends, relatives and support networks
David Orr, NHF chief executive

The NHF argues this to be counter-productive saying ‘every tenant moving to the private rented sector will cost the taxpayer more in additional housing benefit.’
David Orr, NHF chief executive, also said the plans would force people away from family and friends they grew up with.
Mr Orr said: ‘As a result of these changes, thousands of couples are no longer able to offer their grown-up children a room to stay in should their circumstances change, and many single parents will be pushed away from friends, relatives and support networks.
‘Of course ‘under-occupation’ in the social housing sector should be tackled. But slashing people’s housing benefit and pushing them into poverty is not the answer.’
The DWP said the measures would not affect pensioners and that extra help from the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme and from an additional £130m was available to help smooth the transition of the Housing Benefit changes.
A DWP spokeswoman said: ‘Housing Benefit has spiralled out of control over the last decade and it’s unfair that people living in a property that is too large for their needs should do so at the expense of the taxpayer.
‘People should make choices about size and location of their accommodation based on what they can afford when in work, and this measure will bring the social rented sector in line with those claiming Housing Benefit in the private rented sector.
‘However, the Government is committed to supporting the needs of disabled people, including for the first time providing a bedroom for a non resident carer if someone needs overnight care for themselves or their partner.’

chocolate_sausage

Obviously i want to move to smaller living acomm but as usual the governments Proposals are not properly thought out , if the rules state that underoccupation is the crux of the situation how many people who facing possible eviction will merely fill the bedrooms with persons by either lodger or family . Indeed it will be very hard for local authorities to police and very expensive as households are constantly changing in size either by minus or plus .

One could argue it is also a cynical way of forcing those who are out of work off benefits in order to keep their housing , there is undoubtedly some truth in that , however it is a contradiction when it comes to the other proposed policy of evicting tenants who earn to much money from social housing . Never quite understood this proposal either because surely once again if that person is faced with eviction they would just buy the property they live in off the council under the Right to Buy Scheme , which would then permanently remove housing stock from an already limited source . This is hardly going to help those waiting to be housed is it ? Why if the government is concerned on social housing and its shortage has it not removed RIGHT TO BUY ?

The biggest problem that faces any council tenant is their lethargy on the subject and the "oh it wont affect me syndrome" they all seem to have . IT WILL !

nannytone_2

where I live ( a large rural village) there are no one bed properties for social housing. even the old folks sheltered housing are all 2 bed.
so anyone over occupying would either have to make up any shortfall or move away ( with no chance of social housing elsewhere)

Transformer

I must say the new changes would be okay if had the smaller social housing to swap, surely they could not justify reducing housing benefit in case where council said in writing there were no available smaller houses etc.....

They cant have it both ways and would be aware no point in saying well find private smaller house as rent would be as in my case more than four fold and my estate is known as the worst in town, for some reason, so as much as I am happy, not exactly des res.......

Will this change affect older housing tenancies or just new ones from certain date. I mean as much as we in time might choose to move to smaller property, i would have thought it only fair to bring in the condition with new tenancy contracts as they did with the no more house for life change.

pstuart

One of the points I was interested in was this will only affect those of working age.

And in the dim and distant past, I read that it can only effect new tenancies.

KxMx

chocolate_sausage wrote: »

As for swaps yes we have tried , but it never ceases to amaze me just how fussy some of these families are with regards to area and every little detail , when you consider most are moaning they are stuck in flats and property to small for their families , it seems everything has to be perfect for them or they arent interested i have been truly shocked by some of the attitudes i have encountered this year alone .

Believe me, I know what you are talking about. We encountered some very strange people when looking to swap, but we got one in the end and it turned out perfectly. We wanted one place but the others decided not to swap (they did not want a HA as landlord), we were very dissapointed but then came along a perfect swap and it's worked out wonderfully.

Don't give up!