Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he made an assessment of the potential merits of removing the under-occupancy penalty during the preparation of the Spring Budget.
Answered by Paul Maynard - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made.
The removal of the spare room subsidy (RSRS) policy applies to claims for housing support where the claimant is living in the social rented sector in a property that is considered to have more bedrooms than the household requires.
The policy helps encourage mobility within the social rented sector to make better use of the existing social housing stock and strengthens work-incentives.
There are no plans to abolish this policy and easements are available to support disabled people and carers, the families of disabled children, foster carers, parents who adopt, parents of service personnel and people who have suffered a bereavement. The deduction does not apply to pensioners in receipt of Housing Benefit.
For individuals who may require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) may be available. DHP payments are entirely at the discretion of the local authority and since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities.
Written Evidence Jan. 19 2024
Inquiry: Children, young people and the built environmentFound: CBE0018 - Children, young people and the built environment Living Streets Written Evidence
Feb. 28 2011
Source Page: Local decisions: next steps towards a fairer future for social housing. Summary of responses to consultation. 57 p.Found: Local decisions: next steps towards a fairer future for social housing.
Written Evidence Apr. 18 2024
Inquiry: Disabled people in the housing sectorFound: DPH0047 - Disabled people in the housing sector Ipswich Disabled Advice Bureau Written Evidence
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what impact the under occupancy penalty has had on levels of (a) child poverty and (b) child poverty for children with a disability.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
No assessment has been made of the impact of the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) on child poverty. It is not possible to produce a robust assessment of the impact of RSRS on child poverty because we do not have the data to fully measure behavioural impacts that may have resulted from the policy.
The latest statistics show that in 2022/23 there were 100,000 fewer children in absolute poverty after housing costs than in 2009/10.
Statistics on the number of Children living in absolute and relative poverty by disability in the UK are published annually in the “Households Below Average Income” publication in “table 1_7c” and “table 1_7d” (respectively) of “summary-hbai-timeseries-1994-95-2022-23-tables” found here. The latest statistics published on 21 March 2024 are for the financial period 2022/23. The latest available data can also be found on Stat-Xplore here.
The RSRS policy applies to claims for housing support where the claimant is living in a social rented sector property that is considered to have more bedrooms than the household requires.
The policy helps to encourage mobility within the social rented sector to make better use of the existing social housing stock and strengthens work-incentives.
There are easements available which allow for the provision of an additional bedroom in certain circumstances, such as to support families of disabled children, foster carers and parents who adopt.
For individuals who may require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) may be available. DHPs are paid entirely at the discretion of the local authority and since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion to local authorities.
Correspondence Feb. 12 2024
Committee: Local Government, Housing and Planning CommitteeFound: Housing to 2040 submission from Scottish Land & Estates A submission from Scottish Land & Estates, 12
Written Evidence Jan. 19 2024
Inquiry: Children, young people and the built environmentFound: CBE0061 - Children, young people and the built environment London Sport Written Evidence
Correspondence May. 01 2024
Committee: Social Justice and Social Security CommitteeFound: ’s independence and participation in society, enhance wellbeing, tackle social isolation and loneliness
Dec. 12 2007
Source Page: Tackling overcrowding in England: an action plan. 16 p.Found: Increased demand for social housing, and in particular for larger family- sized homes can, in some areas
Written Evidence Jan. 19 2024
Inquiry: Children, young people and the built environmentFound: CBE0087 - Children, young people and the built environment Written Evidence