Housing Benefit Cap - Impact Assessment

[adiep]

So according to the Guardian, the Department of Works and Pensions have carried out an impact assessment of the HB Cap and expect 100,000 homes to be affected.

Presumably the majority of these households will be in Greater London, as it difficult to imagine £400 a week not being able to house a family in considerable luxury outside of the capital.

The largest impact is expected to come in October 2011, when HB is to be determined by the lowest 30% range of basket of rents in the local area.

So, HB renters have over 1 year to sort themselves out.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davehillblog/2010/sep/20/department-work-and-pensions-assessment-of-housing-benefit-cuts-in-london

Personally, I think its the sort of thing we all voted Tory for. I for one am sick of spongers leading a life that your average tax payer cant afford.

Well done Osbourne and co ! The working man thanks you, lets have more of it !

[adiep]

The majority of London landlords would evict tenants if they underpaid their rent by more than £20 a week because of benefit cuts.

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/housing-management/eviction-threat-for-82000-london-homes/6511817.article

Tough talk..

[jonboy2010]

So according to the Guardian, the Department of Works and Pensions have carried out an impact assessment of the HB Cap and expect 100,000 homes to be affected.

Presumably the majority of these households will be in Greater London, as it difficult to imagine £400 a week not being able to house a family in considerable luxury outside of the capital.

The largest impact is expected to come in October 2011, when HB is to be determined by the lowest 30% range of basket of rents in the local area.

So, HB renters have over 1 year to sort themselves out.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davehillblog/2010/sep/20/department-work-and-pensions-assessment-of-housing-benefit-cuts-in-london

Personally, I think its the sort of thing we all voted Tory for. I for one am sick of spongers leading a life that your average tax payer cant afford.

Well done Osbourne and co ! The working man thanks you, lets have more of it !

Its just a shame we have to wait a year i say start now.

[Meg32]

The majority of London landlords would evict tenants if they underpaid their rent by more than £20 a week because of benefit cuts.

http://www.insidehou...6511817.article

Tough talk.

Well, well, well............ if that many landlords are going to end tenancies and not tolerate £20 a week less - then they're just going to have to sell up, aren't they !!

[Si1]

The majority of London landlords would evict tenants if they underpaid their rent by more than £20 a week because of benefit cuts.

http://www.insidehou...6511817.article

Tough talk.

Well, well, well............ if that many landlords are going to end tenancies and not tolerate £20 a week less - then they're just going to have to sell up f*ck off, aren't they !!

corrected

[Cat in the Hat]

This is a completely bogus survey. It was commissed by a lobby group opposed to the housing benefit cuts. If you go and look at the methodology, the results have been completely manipulated.*

The lobbying organisation London Councils emailed and wrote to 6300 landlords registered with the London Landlord Accreditation Scheme. They had 270 replies - a response rate of 4.2%. Only 181 (2.87%) had a relevant property portfolio and were asked what action they would take if faced with a shortfall in rent. All 270 were asked to guess whether future HB changes would affect the size of their portfolio.

So a mere 2.8% of potential respondants selected themselves to take part in a survey, the results of which could lead to legislative changes to their financial benefit. And from this tiny self-selected sample, a lobby group extrapolates that HB changes will result in the eviction of 82,000 housholds/250,000 people.

I

*http://www.londoncouncils.gov.uk/housing/briefings/landlordsurvey.htm Look at Annex 2 of the full report on P27.

[live in hope]

corrected

As i read it, it was the tennants that were going to have to do that.

[adiep]

So, if many of these bums are going to be hoofed out, what are the chances that some of the areas in London might see an upgrade in the quality of humans, areas like Streatham where properties are good value, but not known as great areas.

[adiep]

from an FT article

Benefit cuts risk to London households

By Jim Pickard, Political Correspondent

Published: September 21 2010 23:24 | Last updated: September 21 2010 23:24

Up to 82,000 households in London are at risk of losing their homes as a result of the government’s imminent cuts to housing benefit, according to analysis by a group representing the capital’s 33 local authorities.

A survey of hundreds of landlords by London councils, seen by the Financial Times, suggests that few will cut their rent for those tenants who can no longer afford to pay. That could mean large numbers of families forced to find cheaper accommodation elsewhere, the group says. “The cuts will have an immediate impact on inner London boroughs which will essentially become no-go areas for anyone on housing benefit,” it says in a report published on Wednesday.

That could put pressure on outer suburbs of the city, which would see thousands of incomers needing schools, public transport and other services, according to the report. The survey finds an unyielding attitude among landlords letting to benefit recipients, with 60 per cent saying they will not reduce their rent even a small amount. More than 90 per cent say they will evict any tenant failing to keep up with payments by more than £20 a week – either immediately or by not renewing the tenancy.

Changes to local housing allowance were announced in George Osborne’s June Budget and are expected to save £1.8bn a year from Britain’s annual benefits bill of £21bn. From April, the maximum weekly rate payable will be capped at £250 for a one-bed home or £400 for a four-bed property.

From October 2011, the method of calculating the benefit will change, from the 50th percentile of the market to the 30th percentile, reducing the number of properties eligible for claiming. Many tenants will also lose out from the removal of a £15 weekly housing benefit “excess” paid to those who find cheaper properties. When justifying the move, ministers cite figures showing that some families receive up to £100,000 a year. Those examples have since been shown to be extreme instances rather than the norm, however.

London Councils reaches its figure of 82,000 evictions by applying the probability of eviction, based on its survey results, to data from the Department for Work and Pensions. It presumes, however, that those families receiving the benefit will not be able to make up the shortfall, which might turn out not to be the case. But the group says: “Housing benefit is means-tested, so it is not as if these are people with spare income swilling about.”

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, says the research undermines ministers’ “baseless as-sumption” that landlords will lower rents to keep tenants. The housing charity chief adds: “We are extremely concerned that so many of London’s landlords say they will evict tenants who fall into arrears, while some will stop renting to local housing allowance claimants altogether. This will not only make it even more difficult for claimants to find a place to live, but will add to the already significant levels of homelessness and overcrowding in this city.”

The DWP says it is right for ministers to reform an “out of control” system that traps people in a cycle of dependency. “It is not right that some families on benefits were able to live in homes that hardworking families could not afford,” it says. “We are absolutely committed to supporting the most vulnerable and have tripled our discretionary housing payments to provide a safety net.”

Both Shelter and London Councils are urging the government to pay the local housing allowance directly to landlords rather than tenants, which would be likely to persuade many to remain in the market.

[adiep]

All you can say to that is... BRILLIANT!!!

Let em sod off to Wales or some place where houses are cheap and there's a need for cheap workers.

Edited September 28, 2010 by adiep

[Si1]

As i read it, it was the tennants that were going to have to do that.

err, no

boo hoo

[Meg32]

corrected

Ta!

[darwin]

So according to the Guardian, the Department of Works and Pensions have carried out an impact assessment of the HB Cap and expect 100,000 homes to be affected.

Presumably the majority of these households will be in Greater London, as it difficult to imagine £400 a week not being able to house a family in considerable luxury outside of the capital.

The largest impact is expected to come in October 2011, when HB is to be determined by the lowest 30% range of basket of rents in the local area.

So, HB renters have over 1 year to sort themselves out.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/davehillblog/2010/sep/20/department-work-and-pensions-assessment-of-housing-benefit-cuts-in-london

Personally, I think its the sort of thing we all voted Tory for. I for one am sick of spongers leading a life that your average tax payer cant afford.

Well done Osbourne and co ! The working man thanks you, lets have more of it !

Boris, is that you?

[HeathMan]

The pain and suffering about to be inflicted on unsuspecting BTL landlords is truly shocking. They will be forced to accept market rents with no state subsidies. capitalism was never mean't to be like this

[HeathMan]

Yes but not for another year .... why does it take so long? Renters can be evicted in two months (after the initial six months) so why are BTL LLs given a year?

Maybe a clever move giving landlords the chance to renegotiate lower rents as thats there only hope.

[bricor mortis]

I had a look at the LHA payments for Hemel Hempstead area. As regards 1 bed flats that are being rented out for £155 per week

( max HB) by my calculations they will have to be rented out for £95 per week, so a £240 a month haircut for the landlords.

How much can a BTL er borrow with £240 pm ? im guessing £35k, so if im something like right with all my assumptions and calculations, perhaps I will get to see a drop in price of £35 k on 1 bed flats in Hemel Hempstead over time. That would be around 35% down on where they are now. Nice.

[Boon]

I can't wait for the cuts to start happening. The private rental market right now is getting reallys squeezed, and I've seen in alarm that rents in my area for my size of place are now like £310pw, when I paid £265pw a year ago.

I don't think landlords will suffer much as there is currently a boom in private rentals; they'll probably take a minimal haircut if any I'm guessing.

[the_duke_of_hazzard]

There was a program on radio 4 last night about this. Westminster seems to be the most affected. There was a landlord on there with several properties next to the houses of parliament rented out for 25K a year to single mums (1/2bed flats). He was selling up.

The only solid objection to the changes was that there would be increasing racial tension in cheap parts of London like Barking. This did sound a trifle concerning.