The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of homes for (a) social and (b) affordable rent which are let at rents at or below the shared accommodation rate of the local housing allowance in each region in the most recent period for which figures are available.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested can only be provided at a disproportion cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) local authorities and (b) housing associations that have charged rents in excess of local housing allowance rates in each of the last six years.
Justin Tomlinson
The information requested can only be provided at a disproportionate cost.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) social and (b) affordable housing tenants who will be affected by planned caps on housing benefit in the social sector in (i) 2018-19, (ii) 2019-20 and (iii) 2020-21.
Justin Tomlinson
The introduction of Local Housing Allowance limits to social sector tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the Universal Credit houisng element will only apply from April 2018, where new tenancies have been taken out or renewed after April 2016.
Tenants who take on a new tenancy or renew a tenancy will have the opportunity to consider whether they can afford to take on the property before committing to it. Because of the element of choice is it not possible to accurately estimate the number of (a) social and (b) affordable housing tenants who will be affected by this measure.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.149 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, what steps his Department plans to take to assist local authorities for which the cost of providing temporary accommodation exceeds their pre-allocated share of funding.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Spending Review and Autumn Statement announced that funding of the Temporary Accommodation management fee will be devolved to local authorities from 2017/18, giving them more freedom and flexibility in how they use this funding. Current levels of funding will be maintained and, in addition, councils will receive £10 million a year more. The Department for Communities and Local Government will set out the precise detail of how the new funding will be distributed in 2016/17. The Department will work closely with local authorities and other partners to ensure that funding will be allocated in order to most effectively help councils tackle homelessness.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, with reference to paragraph 1.149 of the Spending Review and Autumn Statement 2015, how local authority funding allocations for temporary accommodation will be calculated over the Spending Review period.
Mr Marcus Jones
The Spending Review and Autumn Statement announced that funding of the Temporary Accommodation management fee will be devolved to local authorities from 2017/18, giving them more freedom and flexibility in how they use this funding. Current levels of funding will be maintained and, in addition, councils will receive £10 million a year more. The Department for Communities and Local Government will set out the precise detail of how the new funding will be distributed in 2016/17. The Department will work closely with local authorities and other partners to ensure that funding will be allocated in order to most effectively help councils tackle homelessness.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many single people under the age of 35 with no dependent children were accepted by local authorities as (a) homeless and (b) homeless and in priority need in each of the last six years.
Mr Marcus Jones
The information requested is not held centrally.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the effect of capping housing benefit for social tenant at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate on the incomes of the tenants affected.
Justin Tomlinson
Capping high social sector rents at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate does not come into effect until April 2018 and then only where a new tenancy is taken out or a tenancy is renewed after April 2016 and the resulting social rent charged exceeds the appropriate Local Housing Allowance rate for the size of household in the area at that time.
Because a range of factors will influence where and when a cap is applied, including behavioural responses from both claimants and landlords, it is not possible to assess the potential effect of the policy on the incomes of the tenants affected.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of capping housing benefit for social tenants at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate on social housing supply.
Justin Tomlinson
Capping high social sector rents at the relevant Local Housing Allowance rate does not come into effect until April 2018 and then only where a new tenancy is taken out or a tenancy is renewed after April 2016 and the resulting social rent charged exceeds the appropriate Local Housing Allowance rate for the size of household in the area at that time
Because a range of factors will influence where and when a cap is applied, including behavioural responses from both claimants and landlords, it is not possible to assess the potential effect of the policy on social housing supply.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the effect of restricting housing benefit entitlement for single social tenants under the age of 35 to the Shared Accommodation Rate of the relevant Local Housing Allowance on (a) levels of homelessness and (b) the availability of social housing for that age group.
Justin Tomlinson
The introduction of Local Housing Allowance limits to housing benefit and Universal Credit houisng element awards will only apply from April 2018, where new tenancies have been taken out or renewed after April 2016.
Tenants who take on a new tenancy or renew a tenancy will have the opportunity to consider whether they can afford to take on the property before committing to it. Because of the element of choice it is not possible to accurately estimate whether there will be any impact upon homelessness or the availability of social housing.
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Emily Thornberry on 2015-12-07.
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, how many single people under the age of 35 with no dependent children are registered on waiting lists for social housing.
Brandon Lewis
In 2013-14, there were around 91,000 single people under the age of 35 with no dependent children on at least one social housing waiting list in England. This is down from 124,000 in 2004-5 and 110,000 in 2010-11. (Source: English Housing Survey, Department for Communities and Local Government).