Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the total sum of housing benefit payable to households living in the private rented sector in 2017-18.
Answered by Caroline Dinenage
Forecasts of Housing Benefit expenditure, consistent with the Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2017 Economic and Fiscal Outlook are available on gov.uk at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2017
Expenditure on Housing Benefit for households living in the private rented sector in 2017/18 is forecast to be £8.8 billion. This includes the Housing Benefit that would have been paid to households who are instead receiving housing support through Universal Credit.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes to housing benefit for unemployed 18 to 21 year olds on homelessness in (a) Tottenham constituency, (b) the London Borough of Haringey, (c) London and (d) the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
There are no plans to change the eligibility rules in housing benefit with respect to claimants aged 18 to 21 years.
From 1st April 2017 those in this age group making claims to Universal Credit in Full Service areas have been unable to receive help with housing costs unless an exemption applies. The comprehensive list of claimants who are exempt includes those unable to live with their parents. Because those subject to this policy will always have the option of returning to the parental home the Government does not expect there to be any impact on homelessness or on local authority expenditure on temporary accommodation.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of changes to housing benefit for 18 to 21 year olds on local authority spending on temporary accommodation and other support in (a) Tottenham constituency, (b) the London Borough of Haringey, (c) London and (d) the UK; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
There are no plans to change the eligibility rules in housing benefit with respect to claimants aged 18 to 21 years.
From 1st April 2017 those in this age group making claims to Universal Credit in Full Service areas have been unable to receive help with housing costs unless an exemption applies. The comprehensive list of claimants who are exempt includes those unable to live with their parents. Because those subject to this policy will always have the option of returning to the parental home the Government does not expect there to be any impact on homelessness or on local authority expenditure on temporary accommodation.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department is making available for the Targeted Affordability Funding concession to the freeze on local housing allowance rates in (a) 2016-17, (b) 2017-18, (c) 2018-19 and (d) 2019-20.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
Around 30 per cent of the savings from the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Freeze will be recycled to use as Targeted Affordability Funding. No Targeted Affordability Funding was available in 2016/17 as there were no savings from the LHA Freeze due to zero inflation levels. The amount available for 2017/18 is £13.33 million and we will announce the funding for future years in due course
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of housing benefit applicants that have benefitted from the three per cent increase in local housing allowance rates in areas where it has been increased through the Targeted Affordability Funding concession.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
There were no Targeted Affordability Funding increases to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates in 2016/17 because the four year LHA freeze policy was not estimated to have any savings in 2016/17.
In 2017/18 we estimate that 70 thousand households receiving housing benefit or universal credit will benefit from a three per cent Targeted Affordability Funding increase to their LHA rate.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons there is no planned increase in the local housing allowance rate for any property size in the Outer North East London Broad Rental Market Area under the Targeted Affordability Funding concession in 2017-18.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The level of Targeted Affordability Funding for 2017/18 was set by Treasury. The allocation of this fixed funding pot has been based on ranking all 960 LHA rates in Great Britain according to the share of the private rental market they can afford in each area according to the latest available rent officer data, with a 3% increase applied to the 48 uncapped LHA rates below the 5th percentile of market rents. All five LHA rates for the Outer North East London Broad Rental Market Area were assessed as above the 5th percentile of market rents and therefore did not qualify for a Targeted Affordability Funding increase in 2017/18.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the effect on tenants in the private rented sector of the changes in local housing allowance rates of housing benefit to the 30th percentile of local market rents and the freeze of those rates since April 2016.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The Department commissioned an independent evaluation of the changes to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) which were introduced from April 2011 and included setting LHA rates at the 30th percentile of local rents. The final report was published in July 2014 and can be found at:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/local-housing-allowance-monitoring-the-impact-of-changes
We have no plans to formally evaluate the effect of the LHA ‘Freeze’ policy, but will continue to monitor the relevant administrative and survey data.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many members of staff who ceased to be employed by his Department, its agencies and non-departmental public bodies in the last three years have subsequently been re-employed by his Department on a temporary basis or as a third-party contractor or consultant.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The information requested is not collated centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of claimants affected by the recent reduction in the benefit cap in (a) the constituency of Tottenham, (b) the London Borough of Haringey and (c) in total are in receipt of (i) jobseeker's allowance, (ii) employment support allowance, (iii) income support, (iv) housing benefit and (v) another benefit.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The information is provided in the table below.
Estimated breakdown of households affected by the lower cap levels by benefit receipt, 2016/17, GB
Benefit Received | Proportion of Capped Households | ||
Tottenham constituency | London Borough of Haringey | Great Britain | |
Employment and Support Allowance | 24% | 23% | 21% |
Income Support | 49% | 45% | 49% |
Jobseeker's Allowance | 16% | 21% | 21% |
Other | 11% | 11% | 9% |
Total (Housing Benefit) | 100% | 100% | 100% |
These estimates focus on the benefit cap continuing to be applied under Housing Benefit and therefore all households affected will be in receipt of Housing Benefit. The benefit cap will increasingly be applied under Universal Credit as it gradually rolls out. Universal Credit will replace Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-based Employment and Support Allowance and Housing Benefit, along with Child Tax Credit and Working Tax Credit.
Notes:
Asked by: David Lammy (Labour - Tottenham)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answers of 16 November 2016 to Questions 52327 and 52328, on housing benefit: social rented housing, whether his Department plans to consult on further exemptions to the shared accommodation rate.
Answered by Caroline Nokes
The existing exemptions that already apply to private rented sector tenants will be extended into the social rented sector. Those living in supported accommodation will be exempt from the Shared Accommodation Rate from 2019/20.
Individuals who don’t fall within one of the exemptions may apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment if they require more support, and we have already committed £870 million in overall DHP funding over the next five years.