A report examined the barriers to the take-up in Wales of council tax benefit and housing benefit. It highlighted best practice, based on the experience of the local authorities that had successfully increased take-up in recent years.
Source: Council Tax Benefit and Housing Benefit: Barriers to Take-up in Wales, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report | WAG press release
Date: 2008-Oct
A report summarized some of the key findings from the evaluation of the delivery of the local housing allowance in the nine pathfinder areas.
Source: Bruce Walker, Delivering the Local Housing Allowance: Some pointers from the pathfinders, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7962 8176)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Oct
A report presented findings from a qualitative research project designed to explore housing benefit claimants' knowledge and understanding concerning changes in their circumstances and their obligations to report them.
Source: Jacqueline Davidson and Roy Sainsbury, Reporting Changes in Circumstances: Tackling Error in the Housing Benefit System – Standard housing benefit cases, Research Report 523, Department for Work and Pensions (0113 399 4040)
Date: 2008-Sep
A report examined the 'financial, situational, administrative, and attitudinal disincentives' to work within the housing support system. It proposed a new model of co-located and interlocking housing and employment support.
Source: Making Housing Work: The links between housing and worklessness, Ingeus Centre for Policy and Research (020 7265 3000)
Links: Report
Date: 2008-Jul
A paper examined some of the issues, problems, and concerns arising from the complicated structure of housing benefit; and offered a number of solutions and recommendations.
Source: Aaron Barbour, Housing Benefit in 2008: Issues, examples and recommendations, Evidence Paper 11, Community Links (020 7473 2270)
Links: Paper
Date: 2008-Jul
A report said that the housing benefit (HB) scheme had a very limited role in influencing claimants' decisions about labour market participation. There was a low take-up rate of HB by working households, and even when households were aware of its availability, uncertainties about the amount they might receive limited the extent to which they could take it into account when making decisions about whether or not they would be better off in work.
Source: Steve Wilcox with David Rhodes and Julie Rugg, Local Housing Allowance Final Evaluation: The housing and labour market impacts of the local housing allowance, Department for Work and Pensions (020 7962 8176)
Links: Report | LGA press release | Guardian report
Date: 2008-Mar
