Housing Benefit

(asked on 14th November 2016) - View Source

Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the recent reduction in the benefit cap on the affordability of housing for claimants who have recently left refuge or temporary accommodation in the (a) social rented sector and (b) private rented sector.


Answered by
Caroline Nokes Portrait
Caroline Nokes
This question was answered on 21st November 2016

The lower benefit cap aims to build on the successful outcomes of the existing benefit cap and to strengthen work incentives. It also aims to impose a reasonable limit on the total amount of benefits that a household can receive, with the aim of promoting fairness for taxpayers and fairness between those on benefits and those in working households. The Government believes that those who are on benefits and not in work should have to make the same choices as those in work about the size of their family and where they can afford to live.

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 from 2016/17.

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