Summary and Background Housing benefit and council tax benefit
15.Housing benefit is a non-contributory benefit payable where a person has a rent liability(3) and meets certain income and capital requirements. Housing benefit can be paid to pensioners and to people of working age. The majority of recipients are in receipt of other income related benefits such as income support or pension credit, but housing benefit is also payable to people in employment or who otherwise meet the income and capital requirements. Currently four million people in Great Britain are in receipt of housing benefit - of whom around 0.86 million live in privately rented properties and 3.16 million in properties rented from social landlords (broadly housing association and council properties). Council tax benefit provides assistance to people on low incomes, who also meet the capital requirements, to pay their council tax.
16.Housing benefit and council tax benefit schemes are administered by 408 local authorities. The Department for Work and Pensions is responsible for the policy and legislation, and for paying appropriate subsidy to local authorities towards the costs of both the administration and benefit costs. The Department for Work and Pensions also: sets performance standards and monitors performance by local authorities against them; collects and publishes performance information; runs a programme of inspection and consultancy through the Benefit Fraud Inspectorate; and issues guidance for local authorities.
17.In 2002 the Government set out proposals for reform of housing benefit in the prospectus ‘Building Choice and Responsibility: A Radical Agenda for Housing Benefit(4)’. The prospectus proposed introducing a simpler way of calculating the housing costs that housing benefit would meet, called the local housing allowance, to be tested in a small number of areas for tenants in private rented housing.
18.Between November 2003 and February 2004 nine pathfinder areas, covering a range of different housing markets, started administering local housing allowance, for tenants in the deregulated private rental market. Further regulations were made to allow for nine additional local authorities to implement the local housing allowance(5), which started administering the scheme between April and July 2005.
19.The housing benefit measures in the Welfare Reform Act facilitate the extension of local housing allowance across the deregulated private rented sector. In addition, housing benefit measures in the Act make changes to the design and administration of the benefit.
20.The Act provides for a reduction in housing benefit in circumstances where a person has been evicted from his home on grounds of anti-social behaviour and then refuses to co-operate with support that is offered to him with a view to improving his behaviour.
21.The intention is that when a person has been evicted for anti-social behaviour the local authority would approach the person to offer rehabilitation and support services to help address his problem behaviour. No powers in this respect are provided as local authorities already have the appropriate powers.
22.If a person refuses help the local authority will have to decide on the appropriate course of action for the particular case. This will include consideration of a housing benefit sanction. The authority will have to assess the risk of imposing a sanction and take account of vulnerability.
23.If a benefit sanction is considered appropriate the local authority will require that the claimant take specified action, with the aim of ending or preventing repetition of the behaviour that led to his eviction. The authority will warn him that failure to comply, without good cause, will affect the amount of housing benefit payable.
24.If at any time during the period of restriction the local authority considers that a reduction in housing benefit is no longer appropriate housing benefit will be reinstated at the full rate of entitlement. Those people who are sanctioned will have the right of appeal to The Tribunal Service.
25.The intention is that the measure will be piloted in about 10 local authorities in England for a period of two years starting as soon as is practicable. The enabling powers for the scheme will end at 31 December 2010. For a scheme to be in place after this date further primary legislation will be necessary