Prime Minister announces local housing allowance cap will not be applied to supported housing or wider social rented sector.
“Kevin Foster (Torbay) (Con)
Q3. The Prime Minister will be aware of the vital role that supported housing plays for many vulnerable people in Torbay. What reassurances can she give me about the ongoing support that the Government will give to those vital services? [901386]
The Prime Minister
My hon. Friend raises an important issue, and this is something that we have been looking at very closely over the past year since my right hon. Friend the First Secretary of State, the right hon. Member for Ashford (Damian Green) commissioned work on it in September last year, when he was Work and Pensions Secretary. I can confirm that we will be publishing our response to that consultation on Tuesday 31 October, and it will look at a wide range of issues. We need to ensure that the funding model is right so that all providers of supported housing can access funding effectively. We need to look at issues such as the recent significant increases in service charges, making sure that we are looking at cost control in the sector.
I can also say today that as part of our response to the review, we will not be applying the local housing allowance cap to supported housing; indeed, we will not be implementing it in the wider social rented sector. The full details will be made available when we publish our response to the consultation.”
[Source: Hansard]
MPs also debated supported housing on the same day - 25 October 2017.
Background
It had been proposed that, from April 2019, there will be a cap on the amount of rent that Housing Benefit would cover in the social sector to the relevant Local Housing Allowance, which is the rate paid to private renters on Housing Benefit. This would have affected all tenants on Universal Credit, and Housing Benefit tenants whose tenancies began or were renewed since April 2016.
The cap would have also applied to all supported housing tenancies, though Local Authorities would have received funding to meet the additional costs of supported housing in their area.