Housing charity Shelter has reported a surge in demand for its homelessness advice services.
In the last year, the charity has recorded a 40% rise in the numbers of callers in England needing help with housing costs, arrears and other debt issues, while in the last six months, visitors to its online housing costs advice service have doubled.
Edinburgh Council has adopted a ‘no eviction’ policy for tenants affected by the ‘bedroom tax’.
The local authority agreed that ‘where the director of services for communities was satisfied that tenants who were subject to the under-occupation charge had done all they reasonably could to avoid falling in to arrears, then all legitimate means to collect rent arrears should be utilised except eviction’.
The first four councils to test the government’s new benefit cap have warned they have not received enough money to implement the changes.
Enfield, Croydon, Haringey and Bromley councils on Monday became the first local authorities to implement the £26,000-a-year benefit cap. The councils must identify who is eligible for the cap and administer the new system.
Housing benefit tenants looking for private rental properties have soared over recent months, with demand heavily outstripping supply.
Searches on a specialist website, Dssmove, have increased by 400% in three months for properties in London and the home counties, but demand is also up elsewhere.
Half of landlords do not use agents, new research from an independent marketing consultancy has said.
While other estimates put the proportion of private landlords using agents at 60%, the BDRC Continental Landlords Panel puts it at 50% – suggesting the possibility of significant more growth for agents.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has today awarded a £38 million contract to modernise and grow the credit union industry.
The Association of British Credit Unions (ABCUL) is the successful bidder to deliver the DWP’s project, which is designed to help meet the growing demand for modern banking products for people on low incomes.
Landlords are reminded that as from this week, local authorities now have the discretion to charge full Council Tax on empty properties.
The change affect properties that until now have been given automatic exemptions and discounts, including furnished and unfurnished properties for rent.
The bedroom tax will cost Northern Ireland more to implement than it will save in housing benefit, new figures have revealed.
According to a joint study by the Northern Ireland Federation of Housing Associations (NIFHA) and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), though the bedroom tax aims to cut the benefits bill by £17m, it will cost £21m to implement.
A letting agent who failed to protect tenants’ deposits and did not pass rent on to landlords has been jailed. The out-of-pocket victims have been warned they are unlikely to get a penny of their money back.
Paul Collins, 47, who ran Thomas and Company Rentals in Milton Keynes, was sentenced to ten months in prison after pleading guilty to 25 counts of fraud.
A new study has revealed that more than half (56 percent) of housing associations and almost a third (30 percent) of councils are worried that their tenants still know hardly anything about the government's welfare changes.
The joint research by the Chartered Institute of Housing South West (CIH SW) and the National Housing Federation (NHF) found that of all the reforms, social landlords expect direct payments to have the biggest impact on their tenants.