Clarification On The Latest Spending Review
According to Homeless Link, a number of agencies have contacted them since the Spending Review announcement on the 25th of November, asking for more information on the proposed restriction of social housing rates of Housing Benefit to Local Housing Allowance levels and whether this applies to hostels and supported housing.
There are three key things that have been confirmed by the Government that will help in understanding what is set out in the review:
- Although the new rules will apply to affected individuals who sign their tenancy from April 2016 onwards, they will be entitled to full Housing Benefit until April 2018.
- Supported housing is covered by the new rules.
- The Government is committed to exempting supported housing from the new rules by increasing Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP) to local authorities.
As Universal Credit is being rolled out, Lord Freud said there should be a “localised” solution to the funding of supported housing, so this announcement needs to be seen in that context. Ministers are still working out the best approach to the funding of rents in supported housing in the context of Housing Benefit being phased-out. This is also tied to the review of the rental costs in supported housing, which has been commissioned by Government and is due to report in 2016.
There are numerous concerns that will follow from this change and Homeless Link will be raising these in discussions with Government. Especially, whether DHP can realistically be seen as a way of exempting supported housing.
There are also wider concerns about the policy, particularly in relation to young people and the wider application of the Shared Accommodation Rate in the social sector, which go beyond the supported housing issue. Homeless Link will also be taking those concerns forward.
