Government Housing benefit changes hurt the vulnerable

How can it be that Housing benefit system is failing Harlow's most vulnerable tenants?

With my involvement with Harlow Homeless Centre, (the picture shows a visit made by David Cameron to the HHC in 2006), some months ago, I was asked to meet with a a Landlord Andrew Hammill), and Tenant who were concerned about the Government's plans to change Housing benefit rules. Both Mr Hammill and the tenant said it would have a detrimental effect. I subsequently lobbied Shadow Housing Minister Grant Shapps MP, who came to visit the HHC to discuss this very issue with Director Patsy Dye. I am glad to say, that the Conservative Housing team have listened - and acted.

The primary problem is that these changes are harming the most vulnerable tenants and reducing the availability of affordable accommodation.

Last year, Labour Ministers introduced a new ‘Local Housing Allowance’, with housing benefit being direct to the tenant rather than to the landlord. But vulnerable tenants often struggle to manage their finances and spend their rent money on other things. Homeless charity, Crisis, has warned that this can result in rent arrears and eventually homelessness.

Landlords who were previously happy to take on tenants on housing benefit have suffered from non-payment of rent. Many landlords now routinely refuse to let to Local Housing Allowance claimants. According to the National Landlords Assocation, half of all landlords are reluctant to lend to tenants on Local Housing Allowance.

7005 people in Harlow are on local housing waiting lists, and a sizeable proportion of them are on housing benefit. Housing waiting lists have risen by 294% per cent under this Labour Government – reflecting the shortage of affordable accommodation.

I am glad that Conservatives have pledged to change Labour’s failed policy. Tenants will be able to choose whether to have their housing allowance paid direct to their landlord. This will increase the availability of quality low-cost housing.

The issue us that Landlords are put off from renting to those on benefit, slashing the availability of decent places to live. Some tenants struggle to manage their finances, using up their benefit money by rent pay day. They get into arrears and trouble as a result.

Tenants should have greater choice, and be free to specify that their housing benefit should go direct to the landlord. This will help those most in need.

I have further and more detailed information for your perusal below:

LOCAL HOUSING ALLOWANCE

Local Housing Allowance was introduced in April 2008 and is a new way of calculating housing benefit for tenants living in the private rented sector. The housing benefit is paid direct to tenants. See here.

A recent survey by the homelessness charity, Crisis said that 82 per cent of respondents had noticed tenants falling behind on their rent since the introduction of Local Housing Allowance. The same number said that the Allowance was leading to more tenancies being terminated. More than two-thirds reported landlords “stipulating conditions over and above those requested for working tenants” while 38 per cent said that fewer landlords will accept housing benefit recipients since the introduction the new system. They warn: “These findings raise some major concerns about the way in which LHA currently operates. It appears that LHA may be working against the Government’s fundamental aims for the scheme along with Government policy to prevent and reduce homelessness.”

Crisis, Local Housing Allowance: One Year On, April 2009.

Research conducted by the National Landlords Association has found that 52 per cent of landlords have decided they would not let, or be ‘less likely’ to let, to tenants on Local Housing Allowance. A further 43 per cent of landlords who have already tried the new system said they would now be leaving this part of the market because of increased uncertainty about rent payments.There are currently 1.8 million families on the social housing waiting list.