An audit report said that the Department for Communities and Local Government had worked effectively with local authorities to ensure council tax support was introduced on schedule, but some local authorities' support schemes would not achieve the expected objectives. It said that most local authorities had reduced available support: 71 per cent now required working age claimants to pay some council tax regardless of income; and 41 per cent had no protections in place for vulnerable groups, other than those mandated for pensioners and war pensioners. Most had used new powers to charge more council tax on some properties, to help offset the funding reduction for council tax support. The report said that the DCLG needed to do more to check that local authorities could manage the cumulative impact of funding and welfare changes.
Source: Council Tax Support, National Audit Office
Links: Report | Summary | NAO press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Dec
A report from a specialist housing provider examined the combined impact of a range of benefits reforms on people with disabilities. It said that disabled people were most affected by the cumulative impact and that, with local authorities taking different approaches to implementing changes, there was a complex geographical variation, which had further impact on people's decisions about moving home. The report said that disabled people in general needs housing had fared worst in the implementation of 'bedroom tax' and that a shortage of accessible properties made downsizing difficult.
Source: Anne Kane, Christina McGill, and David Halliwell, What Price Independent Lives? Benefit cuts and disabled tenants, Habinteg
Links: Report | Summary | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Dec
A report by a committee of MPs said that the spare room subsidy ('bedroom tax') affected those in greatest need, its objectives could be otherwise met, and it should be repealed, with interim protective measures put in place. It said that the discretionary housing payments system was not working well and that it should be replaced by a standard entitlement across the whole of the United Kingdom, with provision for local authorities to exceed the standard level to meet local need.
Source: The Impact of the Bedroom Tax in Scotland: Interim report, Fourth Report (Session 2013–14), HC 288, House of Commons Scottish Affairs Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Dec
A survey examined perceptions of the removal of the spare room subsidy ('bedroom tax') policy among the general public.
Source: Public Perceptions of the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS), Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Ipsos MORI article | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Nov
A report (by an official advisory body) outlined observations on the amendment to the Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Size Criteria) regulations, following a Court of Appeal judgment. The judgment, Burnip and others v. Birmingham City Council and others, had ruled that children with severe disabilities might be allowed provision for their own bedroom if sharing would give rise to an unacceptable level of disruption or physical risk. The Committee had consulted with various interested bodies and raised a number of concerns about the conditionality of the amended regulations. The report included the government's response.
Source: The Housing Benefit and Universal Credit (Size Criteria) (Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2013 (S.I.2013 No.2828): Report by the Social Security Advisory Committee under Section 174(1) of the Social Security Administration Act 1992 and statement by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions in accordance with Section 174(2) of that Act, Social Security Advisory Committee
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Nov
A briefing paper examined the implementation of the local housing allowance since 2008 and the reform of housing benefit for private tenants.
Source: Wendy Wilson, The Reform of Housing Benefit (Local Housing Allowance) for Tenants in Private Rented Housing, Standard Note SN/SP/4957, House of Commons Library
Links: Briefing paper
Date: 2013-Nov
A report by a committee of MSPs examined the 'bedroom tax' in Scotland. The report noted that, in practice, there was a variation in response from different housing providers and the impact varied across location. Early figures suggested that people were not moving. The report noted the complexities still to arise from the further implementation of benefit reforms, including universal credit. It recommended further data collection and better understanding of rent arrears. It also noted the importance of continuing access to Discretionary Housing Payments and financial inclusion measures.
Source: The Bedroom Tax in Scotland, Fifth Report 2013, SP Paper 409, Scottish Parliament Welfare Reform Committee
Links: Report | Scottish Parliament press release
Date: 2013-Oct
A report examined the costs and savings from the introduction of the 'social rented sector size criterion', also referred to as the 'bedroom tax' or the 'withdrawal of the spare bedroom subsidy'. Data from four organizations since 1 April 2013 had called into question key assumptions that underlay the government's impact assessment model. Savings might be 33 per cent lower than the model had estimated, with additional possible outcome variations having potential to produce even lower levels of savings. The report said that the model did not include all factors that might influence savings and that the associated costs incurred by local authorities, and third sector organizations should also be taken into account in any overall assessment.
Source: Rebecca Tunstall, Testing DWP's Assessment of the Impact of the Social Rented Sector Size Criterion on Housing Benefit Costs and Other Factors, Centre for Housing Policy (University of York)
Links: Report | Inside Housing report | Guardian report | CAB press release
Date: 2013-Oct
Two separate surveys found that a significant proportion of families in England affected by the 'bedroom tax' had been pushed into rent arrears in the first three months of the policy.
Source: Press release 18 September 2013, National Housing Federation | Blog post 18 September 2013, False Economy
Links: NHF press release | ComRes press release | False Economy blog post | False Economy research (spreadsheet) | Citizens Advice press release | TUC press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report
Notes: The 'bedroom tax' is the partial withdrawal of housing benefit from social housing tenants deemed to have a 'spare' room – called by the coalition government the 'abolition of the spare room subsidy'.
Date: 2013-Sep
A report examined the effects of reforms to the United Kingdom housing benefit system on social tenants in Northern Ireland. It assessed the likely consequences for existing housing policies, the operation of the housing market, and the housing management practices of social landlords.
Source: Kenneth Gibb, Chris Leishman, Gillian Young, and Tony O Sullivan, The Impact of the Housing Benefit Reforms on the Social Rented Sector, Northern Ireland Executive
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Sep
A United Nations Special Rapporteur said that the right to affordable housing in the United Kingdom had been weakened by a series of measures, notably the way in which home-ownership had been privileged over other forms of tenure. Most recently, several reforms to the 'welfare system', along with cuts in housing grants, appeared to have compromised the realization of the right to adequate housing and other related human rights. In particular, the 'bedroom tax' (partial withdrawal of housing benefit from social tenants with a 'spare' bedroom) had negatively affected many vulnerable citizens.
Source: Raquel Rolnik, Press Statement by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Adequate Housing: End mission to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, 29 August to 11 September 2013, United Nations
Links: Statement | UN press release | SFHA press release | Daily Mail report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Guardian report (3) | Inside Housing report (1) | Inside Housing report (2) | New Statesman report
Date: 2013-Sep
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the implementation of benefits reform by local authorities. It rejected a call to re-examine the impact of the 'bedroom tax' on spare rooms in social housing.
Source: The Government Response to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee Report: Implementation of Welfare Reform by Local Authorities, Cm 8635, Department for Communities and Local Government, TSO
Links: Response
Notes: MPs report (April 2013)
Date: 2013-Jun
A report examined public attitudes towards housing benefit. The public politics of housing benefit was complicated, and dominated by negative attitudes towards claimants. But there were also ways in which a more nuanced and positive debate could be fostered. Campaigners needed to do more to highlight the nature of poverty, including more 'hidden' forms such as poverty among people in work.
Source: Natan Doron and Robert Tinker, Home Truths: How to change attitudes to housing benefit, Fabian Society
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Jun
A report said that disabled people in Scotland were going without essentials such as food, heating, and clothes to make up for the loss in their income caused by the 'bedroom tax'. Almost one-quarter of disabled people who took part in the research said that their housing benefit would be cut as a result of the new cap on the amount of housing benefit a person could receive if they were deemed to have a 'spare' room.
Source: Squeezed Out: Counting the real cost of the bedroom tax, Capability Scotland
Links: Report | Capability Scotland press release | SNP press release | Daily Record report
Date: 2013-Jun
Researchers evaluated early results from demonstration projects designed to pioneer the direct payment of housing benefit to social housing tenants. They said that 6 months had not been long enough to design and prepare for direct payments, in view of the various practical difficulties encountered. Despite resistance and anxiety, the majority of tenants in the project areas were paying 'some or all' of their rent: but direct payment did pose a risk to tenants, and the ability to manage direct payments might be harder under the new universal credit system. A co-operative working relationship between local authority housing benefit departments and landlords had been critical to delivering direct payments: but this would be lost once housing benefit was subsumed within universal credit. In response to the report, the government said that the projects would be extended for a further 6 months.
Source: Paul Hickman and Kesia Reeve, Direct Payments Demonstration Projects: Learning the Lessons, Six Months In, Research Report 839, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report | Summary | DWP press release | Citizens Advice press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-May
An interim report examined the experiences of households with children claiming housing benefit, and their awareness of the impact of national policy changes on their incomes. It said that there was a lack of awareness about the new universal credit system, and confusion over the distinction between it and the benefit cap. There was also a high level of confusion surrounding changes to benefit entitlements. All participants were worried about any potential reductions in their housing benefit entitlement: but most felt unable to say in practical terms how they would cope with any reduction. Those affected by a reduction in local housing allowance felt that there was little they could do until they were evicted by their landlord or taken to court for rent arrears. Reductions in benefit entitlements were perceived by some as an additional incentive to find work, but not as a 'trigger'.
Source: Natalie Cass, The Experiences of Families Claiming Housing Benefit During a Time of Cuts and Changes to Benefits: An interim report, Shelter
Links: Report
Date: 2013-May
Official estimates suggested that there were 1,500,000 spare bedrooms, according to the housing benefit size criteria, in working-age households in the social rented sector in Great Britain in 2010-11.
Source: Number of Spare Bedrooms, According to the Housing Benefit Size Criteria, in Working Age Households in the Social Rented Sector in Great Britain, Department for Work and Pensions
Links: Report
Date: 2013-May
A report by a committee of MPs called on the coalition government to re-examine the impact of the 'bedroom tax', warning that housing benefit reductions for spare bedrooms could hit divorced parents and disabled people. It also said the government needed to provide 'swift assurance' that moves to implement universal credit would not leave the system more vulnerable to fraud.
Source: Implementation of Welfare Reform by Local Authorities, Ninth Report (Session 2012-13), HC 833, House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Additional written evidence | CIH press release | Labour Party press release | NHF press release | BBC report | Daily Mail report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Apr
A report examined the effects of the main changes to housing benefit on people in Wales. It called on the Welsh Government, local authorities, and housing associations to work 'proactively and collaboratively' to mitigate the worst effects of the changes on tenants in Wales.
Source: Mitigating the Impact of Changes to Housing Benefit in Wales: Our Recommendations, Cuts Watch Cymru
Links: Report
Date: 2013-Mar
A report said that the so-called 'bedroom tax' (a housing benefit penalty targeted at social housing tenants with unoccupied bedrooms) would fail to solve overcrowding and could even increase the benefit bill rather than cut it. If everyone affected did decide to move, many would have to go into the more expensive private rented sector because of a shortage of social housing, potentially causing housing benefit claims to increase.
Source: Bedroom Tax: Some Home Truths, National Housing Federation
Links: Report | NHF press release | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Mar
A study found that 2.4 million low-income families in England would pay on average £138 per year more in council tax from 1 April 2013, as a result of the coalition government's policy of replacing council tax benefit with a localized system of support.
Source: Sabrina Bushe, Peter Kenway, and Hannah Aldridge, The Impact of Localising Council Tax Benefit, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Links: Report | JRF press release | Labour Party press release | LGA press release | NPI press release | BBC report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that the coalition government was making significant changes to housing benefits without comprehensive modelling of the likely outcome on individuals or on housing supply, and with limited understanding of the costs that local authorities would incur. This was despite the fact that those individuals who received housing benefit were by definition on low incomes, and that even small reductions in entitlement could have a significant impact on their finances.
Source: Managing the Impact of Housing Benefit Reform, Thirty-eighth Report (Session 2012–13), HC 814, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Committee press release | Labour Party press release | BBC report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Mar
The coalition government confirmed (following consultation) its plans to devolve responsibility for council tax support schemes to local authorities in England.
Source: Localising Support for Council Tax: Update on funding arrangements, Department for Communities and Local Government
Links: Report | Consultation responses
Date: 2013-Feb
A survey examined the potential impact of benefits reform on housing associations in England. Most housing associations feared a significant rise in rent arrears and believed their residents had little or no idea how the changes would affect them.
Source: Ipsos MORI and Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research, Impact of Welfare Reform on Housing Associations: 2012 Baseline report, National Housing Federation
Links: Report | Inside Housing report
Date: 2013-Jan
The Welsh Government announced that it would provide additional help to individuals facing a cut in their council tax support following the changes announced by the United Kingdom government. An extra £22 million in funding would go to local authorities to help with bills in 2013-14, with the aim of ensuring that those people eligible for council tax support in Wales would continue to receive their full entitlement.
Source: Press release 17 January 2013, Welsh Government
Links: Welsh Government press release | WLGA press release | BBC report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report
Date: 2013-Jan
A think-tank report said that low-income families in England would see their council tax bills rise by up to £600 per year from April 2013 as a result of council tax benefit reform. Three-quarters of local authorities were set to demand increased payments from the 3.2 million poorest working-age households who had previously paid either no council tax or a reduced charge. Families were facing increased charges of more than 330 per cent in the most severe cases.
Source: Matthew Pennycook and Alex Hurrell, No Clear Benefit: The financial impact of council tax benefit reform on low income households, Resolution Foundation
Links: Report | Resolution press release | Citizens Advice press release | Gingerbread press release | LGA press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Inside Housing report | Public Finance report | Telegraph report
Date: 2013-Jan
