The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has put proposals to the Social Security Advisory Committee (SSAC) to change the rules relating to exempt accommodation.
Currently, under Housing Benefit law, ‘exempt accommodation’ is accommodation which is provided by a non-metropolitan county council, a housing association or a registered charity or voluntary organisation that also provides a claimant with care, support or supervision.
If you live in exempt accommodation a council cannot restrict the amount of rent eligible for housing benefit unless there is suitable accommodation available to you and it is reasonable to expect you to move.
Exempt accommodation cases are complicated so the Government has decided that they will remain part of the Housing Benefit system, rather than Universal Credit (UC), for the time being.
These new proposals would appear to be an attempt to integrate exempt accommodation into UC. Some housing organisations fear they would exclude benefit paid to cover housing costs in most supported housing from being:
- Taken into account for the household benefit cap
- Met via the Universal Credit rent element (which means calendar monthly payment in arrears, typically direct to the tenant’s bank account).
The DWP’s proposals would create four categories of accommodation that would be excluded:
- Accommodation that meets the current “exempt accommodation” definition in Housing Benefit
- A new, wider category of supported accommodation where the care, support or supervision does not have to be provided by the claimant’s landlord (the same groups of housing providers as for “exempt accommodation”).
- Women’s refuges, including refuges of the same groups as for “exempt accommodation”, but also where the landlord is a local housing authority
- Housing authority hostels where the tenant receives care support or supervision.
For more information see:
http://homeless.org.uk/news/dwp-proposes-new-definition-exempt-accommodation#.UxTDy4Ws_Ug