Social housing and changes to housing benefit

Knackeredoldbat

If 'pay to stay' doesn't get the pensioner, this will. It's all very well saying DHP's will be available but a)they're limited funding and b)they're not guaranteed. Let's face it, there hasn't been enough allocated to the DHP pot to cover the bedroom tax, there would have to be a massive increase to cover everything the govt have said it will cover when this becomes law. Pensioners are not exempt from this and supported housing costs money. What are they supposed to do? As squinty says, it's also hostels, refuges, anyone disabled who needs support (as if they haven't been hit enough already). What if you don't have the option of working more, or getting another adapted property, paying for support out of your own income that's likely already been cut. I despair, I really do... where are all these people going to go and who's going to support them?

sunshine1980

I found a report on the internet by Andrew Hood for the Institute for Fiscal Studies "Benefit and tax credit changes", done after the Autumn Budget.


In respect of the housing benefit changes for social tenants it states:


"Local caps on HB in private sector extended to new social tenancies:

• Applies from April 2018, on tenancies signed from April 2016
• Cuts HB by £225m in 2020-1

Cuts will get bigger. If applied to all social tenants now:

• HB would be cut by £1.1 bn
• 800,000 households would lose average of £1,300 per year

Long-run effects would be larger still if social rents grow faster than HB caps (which are CPI-indexed)


The caps are increasingly arbitrary and in need of reform."


Further on it says "the Government is still planning deep cuts to working-age benefits

• including for low-income working families
• Though overall package will strengthen work incentives on average."

So even though it does not come into effect until 2018 it looks like it may be extended to all social housing tenants at some point in the future.

Robbie64

Back in 1996 the then Conservative Government announced that from October 1997 that Housing Benefit for all single private tenants aged under 60 would be capped at the then Single Room Rent rate that applied to under 25s. The incoming Labour Government immediately scrapped the Regulations. It wouldn't surprise me if this plan was revived at some point by raising the 35 year old age limit for its modern day equivalent (the shared accomodation rate) to that of under pension credit age and then applied it to social tenancies too.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

Robbie64 wrote: »

Back in 1996 the then Conservative Government announced that from October 1997 that Housing Benefit for all single private tenants aged under 60 would be capped at the then Single Room Rent rate that applied to under 25s. The incoming Labour Government immediately scrapped the Regulations. It wouldn't surprise me if this plan was revived at some point by raising the 35 year old age limit for its modern day equivalent (the shared accomodation rate) to that of under pension credit age and then applied it to social tenancies too.

I remember this well. We wrote to all those under 60 letting them know of the changes. Some moved from their flats or houses to rooms in shared properties. They weren't happy when the planned changes were scrapped with some demanding compensation.