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How much do you get?
[ch 7: pages 77-78]There is no set amount of HB and it falls within the Benefit Cap (see Chapter 2.
Government U-turn on Housing Benefit cap on supported housing
In October 2017, the government announced that it would not go ahead with proposals to cap the level of Housing Benefit paid to people in supported housing. Instead, it launched two consultations on housing costs for sheltered and extra care accommodation, and for short-term supported accommodation. The consultations ended in January 2018.
https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/funding-for-supported-housing-two-consultations.
Local Housing Allowance
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is used to work out HB for tenants who rent privately, and is also administered by local councils. How much you get is usually based on the LHA limit in your area, your income and circumstances. In 2012, the coalition government brought in measures to uprate LHA rates in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rather than the market rents in each area, severing the connection between LHA and actual rent prices. The Tory government then imposed a four-year freeze on increases in LHA until 2020, despite increasing rents (see below).
The LHAs for Bristol, for example, are:
| Property | Weekly amount |
|---|---|
| Room in a shared property | Up to £67.37 |
| 1 bedroom (or shared accommodation) | Up to £124.83 |
| 2 bedrooms | Up to £151.50 |
| 3 bedrooms | Up to £181.01 |
| 4 bedrooms | Up to £242.33 |
If you have been getting HB from before 7 April 2008, these limits only apply if you change address or have a break in your claim.
The amount of HB you get from the council may not be enough to pay all of your rent.
With LHA frozen, but rents still rising, housing benefit is no longer covering the cost of renting for many tenants, according to a study by the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Average shortfalls ranged from £22 to £70 per month outside London, and between £124 and £1,036 in inner London.
The study, published in July 2017, found that more than 100 families a day lost their homes in 2016. The number of renters evicted from their properties reached a record high. It linked the increasing eviction rates to the overall growth of the private-rented sector and cuts to HB. It said the rise is also being driven by high numbers of “no-fault” evictions by private landlords. Landlords are allowed to evict a tenant after the initial rental period without giving a reason, and without any wrongdoing on behalf of the tenant.
A National Audit Office (NAO) report published in September 2017 shows the number of households in temporary accommodation has increased by 60% since March 2011 to 77,240. Rough sleeping increased by 134% between autumn 2010 and autumn 2016, to 4,134 rough sleepers counted and estimated on a single night. The NAO said the government has not evaluated the impact of its welfare reforms on homelessness.