A report said that working together to resolve housing benefit problems, and referring tenants for independent advice, could be more effective than hasty court action in tackling rent arrears.
Source: Mary Carter, The Last Resort Campaign, Citizens Advice (020 7833 2181)
Links: Report (pdf) | Citizens Advice press release
Date: 2004-Oct
A report summarized the findings of research by homelessness campaigners into the effects of the housing benefit pathfinder scheme. It said that there was no evidence of the scheme persuading landlords to open up access to people claiming housing benefit, with three of the four pathfinder areas seeing increases of 5-7 per cent in the proportion of advertisements barring access for benefit claimants.
Source: Liam Reynolds, Housing Benefit Pathfinder: Report two - Interim findings, Shelter (020 7505 4699)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Aug
A report presented the findings of a review of housing benefit arrangements for temporary accommodation. It considered the possibility of basing benefit determinations on local market rents, but with adjustments to take into account the management and maintenance charges that temporary accommodation attracted.
Source: Michael Wagstaff, A Single Housing Benefit Control for Temporary Accommodation, In-House Report 147, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2004-Aug
An issue of the journal Benefits examined different aspects of housing benefits.
Source: Benefits, Volume 12 Number 2
Links: Table of contents
Date: 2004-Jun
A research report reviewed the factors that contributed to the large cost overruns incurred by the transitional housing benefit scheme during the period from 2000 to 2003. (The scheme preceded the creation of the Supporting People programme for housing needs.)
Source: Supporting People: Review of the development of policy and costs of housing-related support since 1997, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (0870 1226 236)
Links: Summary (pdf) | Help the Aged press release
Date: 2004-Mar
The government claimed early success for the first pilots of a reformed housing benefit scheme (involving direct payment of a local housing allowance to the tenants of private landlords).
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 10 March 2004, columns 102-103WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard
Date: 2004-Mar
A report argued that the council tax should be made fairer, rather than abolished. It proposed: additional council tax bands, so that those in the top band paid ten times as much as those on the bottom band, instead of three times as much; replacing the national banding system with a regional one to reflect the wide variations in property prices and housing market inflation over the previous decade; doubling or trebling the savings allowed before council tax benefit was withdrawn; and a fundamental redesign of council tax benefit so that it was treated as a tax credit rather than as a means-tested welfare benefit.
Source: Peter Kenway, Council Tax: The Answer?, Local Government Information Unit (020 7554 2800) and Centre for Council Tax Reform
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report
Date: 2004-Mar
A new housing benefit scheme was launched in Brighton. Under the new scheme, a standard rate of benefit (local housing allowance) is be paid direct to tenants, and varies only according to family size and area. The government said that it gave tenants the choice of either finding a cheaper property or going up-market and making up the extra rent themselves.
Source: Press release 5 February 2004, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7712 2171)
Links: DWP press release
Date: 2004-Feb
The government published the results of consultation on housing benefit sanctions for anti-social behaviour. 75 per cent of respondents, and 81 per cent of local authorities, opposed proposals to withdraw housing benefit from anti-social tenants. The government indicated that it would not proceed with the proposal, at least until other approaches had been tested.
Source: Housing Benefit Sanctions and Anti Social Behaviour: Analysis of consultation, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7962 8176) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 27 January 2004, columns 9-10WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report (pdf) | Hansard | DWP press release | Shelter press release | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2)
Date: 2004-Jan
