Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the number of people who were successful in appeals for Employment Support Allowance were (a) evicted or (b) threatened with eviction in the period between the original assessment and the appeal decision.

This information is not available.

If a Local Authority considers that a claimant requires further financial assistance towards their housing costs (including rent in advance, deposits and supporting tenants through the transition to welfare reforms), they can award a Discretionary Housing Payment, in addition to welfare benefits.

This may enable Housing Benefit or Universal Credit claimants to stay in their properties, but non-payment of rent isn’t the only reason why evictions take place in. Tenants are also be evicted because of anti-social behaviour or criminal activities.

Social landlords in particular design their policies to ensure that any evictions are carried out only after other options have been exhausted, tenants have failed to engage with their landlord or tenancy management remedies have proved ineffective.