News from Parliament.
DHP funding
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he expects his Department to announce its discretionary housing payment allocations for 2013-14; and if he will make a statement. [126349]
Steve Webb:An announcement about the distribution of funding for discretionary housing payments in 2013-14 is expected to be made in early December. As in previous years, the Department will issue a circular to local authorities with their individual allocation
Number of under 25 claiming HB
.To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many housing benefit claimants under the age of 25 living in (a) the social rented sector and (b) the private rented sector are (i) single and without children, (ii) single with children, (iii) in a couple and without children and (iv) in a couple with children. [125500]
Steve Webb:The requested information is in the following table.
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Housing benefit recipients under the age of 25 and living in the social rented sector and the private rented sector by family type, May 2012 |
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|
Age |
All |
Single, no child dependant |
Single with child dependant(s) |
Couple, no child dependant |
Couple with child dependant |
|
Social rented sector |
All ages |
3,382,870 |
2,000,490 |
690,700 |
375,320 |
316,370 |
|
|
Under 25 |
201,320 |
94,280 |
86,270 |
5,780 |
14,980 |
Lodgers and under occupancy
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the ability of tenants in the socially rented sector, under the terms of their tenancy conditions, to take in a lodger in order to reduce a drop in their income resulting from the under-occupancy penalty. [125898]
Steve Webb:The ability of tenants to take in a lodger is dependant upon the particular conditions of individual tenancy agreements. However, many local authority tenants and some housing associations have an automatic right to take in lodgers. We anticipate that many other social sector tenants will be granted such a right following a request to their landlord.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the consequences for the household insurance policies of tenants in the socially rented sector who take in a lodger in order to reduce the drop in their income through the application of the under occupancy penalty. [125908]
An assessment has not been undertaken. We are changing the rules in universal credit so that the income received from taking in a lodger does not reduce a claimant's benefit. This will increase the options for those who are affected by the under-occupation reduction though the Government accept that, for a variety of reasons, this solution will not be appropriate in all cases.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many households expected to see their income reduced through application of the under occupancy penalty will experience a loss of income less than the net amount of additional income they could gain, after benefit withdrawal, from the rent paid by a lodger. [125909]
It is not possible to determine how many households could expect to receive more income from a lodger than they will lose from the introduction of the under-occupancy deduction. However, under universal credit the income received from taking in a lodger does not reduce a claimant's benefit and the average reduction in housing benefit as a result of the application of the under-occupancy deduction is expected to be £14 a week.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether he has received legal advice on the (a) potential effects of the announcement of a transition fund on the legality of consultations on council tax benefit reform that were launched before that announcement and (b) potential for future judicial review of individual local authority council tax benefit schemes; and if he will make a statement. [125460]
Brandon Lewis:As the right hon. Member should know, as has been the practice of previous Administrations, the Government does not confirm or deny whether legal advice has been received on any issue.
Benefits cap; enforcement against local authorities
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has received information that local authorities have reduced rents for their housing stock as a means of avoiding the housing benefit cap; if his Department will commission research into this issue; and if it will take steps to enforce adherence by local authorities to the housing benefit cap. [118725]
My Department, with the Department for Work and Pensions, is funding research into the impact of the local housing allowance changes on private rented sector tenants, landlords and local authorities. The housing benefit cap is one of the changes to the local housing allowance regime. An initial report was published on 14 June and can be found on the DWP website. There will be an interim early next year and the final report later in 2013.
The most recent official statistics published by the Valuation Office Agency in August 2012 show that median private sector rents across England rose by 0.9% in the year to June 2012, compared to a rise in RPI inflation of 2.8% over the same period. Rents have thus fallen in real terms, although there are local variations.
Over occupation and supported and sheltered accommodation
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what steps his Department plans to take to monitor the effect of the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2012 on residents living in supported and sheltered housing. [124280]
Steve Webb:We think it unlikely that many people in this type of accommodation will be affected by the social sector size criteria reductions for working age housing benefit claimants. This is because most sheltered accommodation is occupied by pensioners who are exempt from the size criteria.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how the proposed withdrawal of housing benefit from social housing tenants under-occupying their homes will apply to a couple resident in social housing where one is of working age and the other is over retirement age. [121809]
Steve Webb:At the point at which the under-occupancy measure is introduced in April 2013 couples who are in receipt of housing benefit under the rules for those who have attained the qualifying age for pension credit will not be affected. This includes couples where one partner is under the qualifying age for pension credit and the other is over that age.
Once housing benefit has been abolished for new claims, couples making new claims to benefit will be entitled to housing support through pension credit if both are above the qualifying age, or to universal credit if one partner is below the qualifying age. The rules on under-occupancy in universal credit will apply in the latter case.