Bedroom tax whats happening? Melanie Rees, CIH Learn with us. - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

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Bedroom tax– what’s happening?

Melanie Rees, CIH

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We’ll look at:

• Bedroom tax – a quick round up
• Some emerging issues
• How organisations are responding

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Social sector size criteria/ under-

• ccupation penalty/ bedroom tax/

removal of the spare room subsidy: a quick round-up

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Key features

• Began 1 April 2013
• Working age under-occupiers
• 660,000 British households affected
• 66% disabled people
• 70,000 affected in London (ave. shortfall £23 p.w.)
• 50,000 south east (ave. shortfall £16 p.w.)

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Emerging issues

• What is a ‘bedroom’?
• Stock imbalance
• Layering effect
• ‘Pay and stayers’ struggling
• DHP – an adequate safety net?
• ‘No eviction’ policies - realistic?

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Legal matters

• County Court Judges’ stance?
• Be prepared!
• Gorry case (May 2012)
• Circular - but no secondary legislation (Autumn ‘13?)
• High Court judgement (July 2013)
• 10 households with disabled adults
• Judgement - rules were ‘unfair’ but not directly

discriminatory

• Anomaly – adults v. children

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How are landlords responding?

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Getting the message across

• Gathering/using insight

information

– Access to bank accounts/ IT – Communication preferences

• Affinity Sutton benefit buddies
• Halton Housing YouTube films
• St Leger’s desk-top guide for

staff

• Wulvern Housing pocket guides
• Communicate…and then

communicate some more

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Money matters

• Focus on affordability
• Orbit Heart of England ‘sustainability’ checker
• How will the ‘fall out’ be managed??
• Maximise payment methods
• Access to banking
• Walsall Housing Group
• Money/benefits advice
• Connect Housing
• Money management support
• Halton Housing’s ‘budget buster’ sessions

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Getting in shape

• Arrears process

reviews

– Solihull Community Housing

• Re-sizing patches
• Driving down arrears
• Getting accounts in

credit

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Staying put

• Supporting tenants to find

lodgers

– Nottingham City Homes

• Promoting DHPs

– Solihull Community Housing – Radian’s hardship fund

• Supporting tenants into

training and work

– Wolverhampton Homes LEAP – Connect Housing pre- employment money advice

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Digital inclusion

• ‘Digital by default’…
• …or ‘digital as appropriate’?
• Supporting access
• Liverpool Mutual Homes – internet kiosks
• Dacorum Council’s deal with BT

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Moving on

• Changing/reviewing allocations policies
• Prioritising under-occupiers
• Preventing under-occupation
• Transfers with arrears
• Mutual exchanges
• Matching events – Salford, Nottingham and Luton
• Wolverhampton Homes ‘house-doctoring’
• Dacorum Council’s ‘Summer of Swaps’
• One Vision Housing’s matching officer

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Working together

Strengthening and/or developing partnerships:

• West Midlands Best Use
• f Stock Partnership

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Making it fit?

• Re-designating size of homes
• Knowsley Housing Trust
• But beware!
• Re-framing development programme to

increase focus on smaller units

• Halton Housing Trust

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And finally:

• Focus on tenancy sustainment
• Keep communicating: with tenants and

partners

• You can’t do it all alone - work with partners to

find solutions

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Get in touch:

• melanie.rees@cih.org - T: 07950 506 692
• www.cih.org/welfarereform
• www.cih.org/mbusresources