Joanna Hayes, North Derbyshire Housing Ambition Co-ordinator

Joanna Hayes, North Derbyshire Housing Ambition Co-ordinator

Issues... Welfare reform Effects of welfare reform Under 18s and housing Care leavers and housing Young people & the private rented sector Discretionary Housing Payments

Welfare reform timeline... April 2011 April 2013 April 2014 April 2016 April 2017 April 2018 Reduction of Local Housing Allowance rates from 50 th to 30 th percentile of market rent Removal of spare room subsidy in Social Rented Sector Local Housing Allowance rates no longer increase annually by consumer price index but by flat rate of 1% Reduction of rents in Social Rented Sector by 1% per year End of automatic entitlement to Housing Benefit for 18 21 year olds Shared Accommodati on Rate already applied in the private sector to be applied in Social Rented Sector for under 35s

Welfare reform... Shared Room 1 Bed 2 Beds 3 Beds 4 Beds 5 Beds Feb 2011 255.33 ( 52.00) 375.01 ( 86.54) 450.02 ( 103.85) 549.99 ( 126.92) 694.98 ( 694.98) 750.00 ( 173.08) July 2011 210.17 ( 48.50) 350.00 ( 80.77) 425.00 ( 98.08) 495.00 ( 114.23) 650.00 ( 150.00) n/a July 2016 220.74 ( 50.94) 349.05 ( 80.55) 423.84 ( 97.81) 493.65 ( 113.92) 648.22 ( 149.59) n/a *All rates are Chesterfield BMRA LHA rates

Welfare reform... April 2018 Shared Accommodation rate already applied in the private sector to be applied in Social Rented Sector for single under 35s Will apply to anyone taking up a general needs tenancy from 1 st April 2016 Will apply to anyone taking up a tenancy or licence in supported accommodation from 1 st April 2017 No legislation has been written yet Government Briefing Paper, Paying for Supported Accommodation, 19 th July 2016. http://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/sn06080/sn06 080.pdf

Welfare reform... Exemptions from Shared Accommodation Rate... Care Leavers up until their 22 nd birthday Those in receipt of the Severe Disability Premium (SDP) AND no one gets Carer s Allowance to care for them. Someone would get the SDP if they receive the enhanced rate of the Daily Living Component of Personal Independence Payments (PIP), High Rate Care Component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Armed Forced Independence payments (AFIP) and must live alone No SDP under Universal Credit so it is not clear how / if this exemption will apply for UC claimants Other exemptions for over 25s (lived in a hostel, MAPPA)

What will this mean... Already seeing changes to allocations and letting policies in general needs accommodation in the Social Rented Sector... Affordability criteria Assessment of likelihood to find work before April 2018 No allocations to single under 35s (or at least those on JSA / ESA / UC) Application of LHA rates to supported accommodation...

Under 18s and housing... Most landlords (private & SRS) will not automatically accept 16 / 17 year olds Legal issues over under 18s holding a legal estate in land Concerns over under 18s holding a contract Concerns over tenancy management and likelihood of maintaining rent payments Some SRS landlords will allow 16/17 year olds under very strict criteria Affording accommodation 16/17 year olds can claim benefits including housing benefit if they are estranged from their parents and they are not in care Still limited to Shared Accommodation Rate in PRS

Care leavers and housing... Those leaving accommodation provided to them by Social Care e.g. foster care, children s home at the age of 18 are automatically in priority need under Part VII Housing Act 1996 until their 21 st birthday They might therefore be owed a duty by the District or Borough Council to provide temporary accommodation and settled accommodation if homeless. They can however still be found to be intentionally homeless if they have lost accommodation due to their own actions May have to approach a District or Borough Council different to the one where they were living in care due to local connection criteria They are also exempt from SAR in the private rented sector and the social rented sector (from April 2018) however this is only up until their 22 nd birthday May still not be able to access Social Rented Sector accommodation due to affordability criteria in some areas

Young people & the Private Rented Sector Shared accommodation rate has always applied in the PRS. Prior to January 2012 this applied only to those who are single and under 25 but was extended to include under 35s Difficult to find accommodation which is affordable at LHA Reluctance to accept younger people; lifestyle, tenancy management Many landlords will not accept tenants claiming Housing Benefit and only then with a guarantor... Guarantor will often need to be earning a minimum of 18,000 / year as they would be expected to have the means to cover the rent if the tenant could not One month s rent in advance, security bond and agent s fees usually required. Some fees are non refundable if unsuccessful

Discretionary Housing Payments... Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) can be applied for separately from Housing Benefit (or housing costs in UC) where there is a shortfall between income and rent and the Local (District or Borough) Authority considers that the claimant requires further financial assistance Intended to be short term to enable increase in income or to give time to find affordable accommodation, seek debt advice etc... Examples of use e.g. bedroom tax, benefit cap, pregnant young person, care leaver who has turned 22 and accommodation has become unaffordable The young person must know to apply for DHPs, they will not be automatically offered

Discretionary Housing Payments... 250 165m 125m 150m 200 Thousands 150 100 50 0 2014/15 2015/16 2016/17 Chesterfield BC Amber Valley DC South Derbyshire DC

Questions?