Social Security Benefits

(asked on 2nd November 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the potential effect of the extension of the benefit cap to £23,000 per year in London and £20,000 per year outside London on the levels of homelessness.


Answered by
Caroline Nokes Portrait
Caroline Nokes
This question was answered on 10th November 2016

The evaluation of the current benefit cap shows very little, if any, impact on homelessness as a direct result of the cap. The small numbers of capped households who had been evicted were noted by Local Authorities as having other reasons for rent arrears and also failing to engage with relevant services; they were considered intentionally homeless. To help ensure Local Authorities are able to protect the most vulnerable housing benefit claimants and to support households adjusting to reforms, the government will provide £870 million funding for the Discretionary Housing Payments scheme over the next 5 years. Housing Benefit paid for specified accommodation such as refuges is ignored when calculating whether or not the cap applies.

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