HB reduction and MP

iluvmarmite

After being in contact with my MP about the reduction in HB for social housing he has informed me that he has had hundreds of emails regarding this matter, what he told me to do is find out the cap for private rented in my area and compare it with my rent now, if it's higher than my rent then write to the HB debt to inform them.

For a one bed, which they say we are entitled to I would get an LHA of £116 per week, my rent here is £91 per week so they would have to pay out £25 a week more if I have to move as there are no one bed social housing places.

They said they have brought in HB reduction to be fair on private tenants and to cut the HB bill yet by forcing people into private rented they are actually raising the bill.

So everyone should check this out and write to their local council if they need or wish to do so.

nannytone_2

my 1 bed LHA rate is £75 and my housing association rent is £96.

Wicked_witch

What does the MP think the council will do about this? Or is the idea just to let them know they could be paying out more?

Caz3121

iluvmarmite wrote: »

For a one bed, which they say we are entitled to I would get an LHA of £116 per week, my rent here is £91 per week so they would have to pay out £25 a week more if I have to move as there are no one bed social housing places.

but in return there are probably people in private rented 2 or 3 bedroom places claiming far more in LHA on the waiting list to move to social housing which will save more than the £25 per week

iluvmarmite

Wicked_witch wrote: »

What does the MP think the council will do about this? Or is the idea just to let them know they could be paying out more?

He said the HB reduction is not set in stone yet and can be overturned, the more things that prove it unviable the better, the councils save all correspondence relating to the thing and they are all logged, this helps when MPs become involved and they take it to the house of commons

iluvmarmite

Caz3121 wrote: »

but in return there are probably people in private rented 2 or 3 bedroom places claiming far more in LHA on the waiting list to move to social housing which will save more than the £25 per week

Those in social housing and on HB on claiming because they are on a low income or benefits, how would they afford deposits, rent in advance and agency fees? How would they afford to top up the huge private rents? It's very doubtful they could move so those in the private sector will be on the list for years, therefore the £25 per week still stands for the foreseeable future

BigAunty

It's great that your MP is on your side, but isn't this legislation a done deal, passed in parliament and so definately going to take place? I wasn't aware that it was at the discussion phase? Happy to be corrected.

sammyjammy

BigAunty wrote: »

It's great that your MP is on your side, but isn't this legislation a done deal, passed in parliament and so definately going to take place? I wasn't aware that it was at the discussion phase? Happy to be corrected.

You are correct, this comes in from April and was all decided and signed off a long time ago, it seems that some people are only just becoming aware of it but its way too late to stop it.

With legislation like this there will always be winners and losers, its the nature of the beast that one piece of legislation affects people in different ways. You have to remember the affect it has on the whole country not the affect it has on the individual (not aimed at you Big Aunty!)

Caz3121

iluvmarmite wrote: »

Those in social housing and on HB on claiming because they are on a low income or benefits, how would they afford deposits, rent in advance and agency fees? How would they afford to top up the huge private rents? It's very doubtful they could move so those in the private sector will be on the list for years, therefore the £25 per week still stands for the foreseeable future

there are tenancy deposit schemes that the councils run.
agreed there are probably not many people that will choose to move from social housing to private lets so I guess the contribution made by those in houses that are too large for their needs that they choose to remain in will somehow go into the pot to help pay for the private lets for those that cannot get social housing so are paying a higher rent

Morlock

What I find particularly disgusting about this bill is that the government invoked a 17th century parliamentary mechanism usually reserved for money related bills, called financial privilege, to reject amendments to the bedroom tax which were proposed by the House of Lords to protect vulnerable people. Effectively silencing any opposition.

BigAunty

sammyjammy wrote: »

.. You have to remember the affect it has on the whole country not the affect it has on the individual (not aimed at you Big Aunty!)

Yes, I know what you mean.

Some of the general aims sound positive as high level principles - to encourage less wastefulness in the social housing sector by discouraging unoccupied rooms as this country does have a housing crisis, to reduce public spending, to bring parity between the private and social housing sectors in how housing benefit is based on household needs.

But it's going to feel awfully personal to anyone affected! Not just those that have their housing benefit reduced but their relatives who would have stayed in a spare bedroom but face kipping on a sofa.

And the sense of powerlessness - there aren't sufficient smaller properties for them to move into so they don't have the option of downsizing unless they want to lose their cheap rent and security of tenure by moving into private housing (not a very attractive option for many).