Housing: Under-occupancy Charge

Lord Stoneham of Droxford Excerpts

Monday 21st October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, as the noble Lord knows, an elaborate programme of research is going on around this measure and will take place over a two-year period. Regular reports will be provided. I believe that the first interim reports are coming out in the spring. I will, of course, be pleased to talk to the noble Lord about the research and will give a great deal of attention to what we find. If there are concerns, we will match them. As noble Lords will know, we have made changes to the discretionary housing payments system this year to reflect some of the early concerns that have developed and we have found an extra £35 million for that.

[Lord Stoneham of Droxford (LD)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as chair of Housing 21, a housing association. There is evidence that local authorities are not fully using the Government’s transitional support funding for ending the subsidy for under-occupied housing. What action are the Government taking to ensure that those in need get the support that the Government have provided for them?

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, my noble friend is right. Our very early soundings are that some local authorities are not spending all their DHP. Clearly, we provide that funding in order that vulnerable people are protected through this transition period and we have been monitoring that very closely.