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.
A ban on letting agent fees in England would have no negative impact on the private rented sector, a study of the Scottish market has revealed.
Commissioned by housing charity Shelter, the report found that the lettings market in Scotland has grown since fees were banned in 2012, with 54% of agency managers saying that the ban had been positive for the sector.
Boris Johnson has launched a rental standard for private sector landlords in London, in a bid to ensure tenants can rent confidently and help landlords understand the law.
The London Rental Standard badge will be awarded to all landlords and letting agents who meet a set of core commitments - including transparent fees, better property conditions, protected deposits and fast response times for repairs.
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.
Letting agents will be required to publish full details of the fees they charge, under plans announced by the government today.
Ministers have said that the move will ensure a fair deal for landlords and tenants, and will prevent a "small minority" of rogue agents from imposing unreasonable, hidden charges.
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.
Labour leader Ed Miliband has announced plans for sweeping reforms of the private rented sector, including actual price controls, which the party says "will help millions of households caught in the cost-of-living crisis".
Speaking in Redbridge, London, at the party's campaign launch for local and European elections on 22 May, Miliband set out detailed plans for three-year tenancies and setting rents which preventexcessive rises.
A landlord has been fined £12,000 for renting out a flat without a so-called selective licence after being taken to court by a council which has itself been branded as "toxic".
Back in 2011 Thanet district council in Kent designated areas of Cliftonville and Margate as a selective licensing area, within which most privately rented properties must be licensed. The measure was introduced to tackle alleged anti-social behaviour.
The government has introduced rules meaning that long-term unemployed people will only receive benefits if they visit a job centre every day or take on six months of voluntary work.
Jobseekers that disobey the new rules will have their benefits stopped for four weeks for a first offence and 13 weeks for a second.
A housing association has offered tenants a free Crème Egg to thank them for paying the bedroom tax.
In a letter shared widely on Twitter today, Welsh landlord Valleys 2 Coast offered the confectionary ‘as a small thank you’ to affected tenants.
The housing benefit bill will reach a new high of £25bn a year by 2017, according to new government estimates.
The bill is estimated to have decreased by £425m last year, during which a number of welfare reforms affecting housing benefit took effect, but is set to increase again before reaching £25.4bn in real terms by 2019.
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…
Benefits claimants in the North-East and North Yorkshire have been hit harder by Government’s ‘bedroom tax’ than any other region, a new study has revealed.
The report, by Oxfam and the New Policy Institute (NPI), warns that wide-ranging cuts are changing the shape of welfare support at a time when rising prices are making it harder for families to make ends meet.
Social housing tenants evicted from their home due to rent arrears are set to be hit by a 150% increase in court fees.
The standard county court fee for a rent arrears possession case will rise from £100 to £250 from 22 April.
A series of subtle changes to housing benefit mean the safety net for people renting their home is shrinking fast
The necessity of housing makes housing benefit a crucial part of the safety net. It ensures that if someone loses their job, they don't immediately fall behind on their rent and risk losing their home as well. It also allows job-seekers to focus on securing a new job rather than where they are going to sleep that night.
A BLIND widow who got a personal apology from a council boss over a bedroom tax eviction threat has had her housing benefit cut.
Now Helen Sockell, who lost her sight aged 14, fears fresh moves to boot her out of her home.
It is more than six months since the government's benefits cap was introduced, with the aim of encouraging people into work. Panorama followed council officers in the London Borough of Brent for seven months to find out how it was affecting families.
"I don't know how anyone can be rich and proud on benefits. For me, it's very shameful. I hate being in this situation. I hate having to rely on the government," said single mother-of-two Tanya Blake.
One in four, or about 843,000, London households currently receive housing benefit to help them pay their rent, says a new London Assembly report.
The housing benefit bill for London in 2012-13 was more than £6bn and claims have risen by over 100,000 since 2008. It’s not surprising the government wants to get a hold of rising costs, but the report describes how nearly half of all households in the UK subject to the overall benefits cap have been in London. This is primarily down to our higher housing costs. Londoners in social housing have also been disproportionately affected by the "Bedroom Tax".
Up to 100,000 social housing tenants hit by the bedroom tax are trapped in large homes that they can't move out of, research has revealed.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation's study found that the government's controversial under-occupancy policy has failed to free-up homes in many areas.