SCSH Briefing

May 2001

General Election 2001

These are some of the reforms that SCSH believe the new UK government should undertake to ease homelessness. Overall, we would like to see greater emphasis given to improving benefit take-up rates during the election campaign than is being given to benefit fraud.

Abolish the Single Room Rent

Introduced during the last years of the Conservative government this restricts the amount of housing benefit paid to young people, to the average cost for a room in shared accommodation. Research has shown it is causing widespread hardship and the House of Commons Select Committee on Social Security has called for its abolition. This reform would cost only £65m against a £103 billion Social Security budget.

Housing Benefit Taper

The housing benefit taper – currently 65p for every £1 earned above the applicable amount is too steep. When combined with Council Tax benefit it can mean benefit being deducted at 85p for every £1 earned, thus reducing the incentive to work. The taper should be reduced substantially.

Remove the age related elements of the benefits system

It remains an anomaly that people aged under 25 receive less in benefits than those aged 25+. This can affect the levels of housing benefit received if a young person is in low paid employment. Costs of living are the same regardless of a person’s age. Therefore the differential between benefits available for those aged under 25 and the rest should be removed.

Public Sector Borrowing Requirement

Remove housing investment from the definition of public sector borrowing in line with other European countries. This would free up housing investment especially by local authorities, without the pressure for stock transfers.

Social Fund to be based on grants not loans

We would like to see significant changes made to the operation of the Social Fund. Firstly, the Social Fund should be available to those who require it. It should not be subject to a cash limit, which could mean people in serious need being denied assistance simply because the budget has been spent. Secondly, the social fund should be based on grants not loans. Those likely to receive such loans are very likely to be in acute poverty. Repaying a loan may make their situation worse. Finally, we believe rent deposits should be payable through the social fund. In 1997, just 4856 of the 1.3 million people who applied for a loan were refused because they couldn’t afford to repay it. By 1999, that figure had jumped to 362 000 with only one in five applications being successful.

Restore an incentive between quality of accommodation and the amount payable through housing benefit

Currently there is no incentive for good landlords to invest to improve their accommodation. Poor standards are rewarded equally with good standards. Good landlords with high quality accommodation should be able to claim higher rents to compensate them for improvements they have made.

Housing benefit absence from home rules to be restored to 52 weeks

The restriction of the absence from home rules means that (for example) a person serving more than 13 weeks in prison is denied housing benefit. This can lead to the loss of their tenancy and greater difficulty in reintegrating back into a settled life. Such short prison sentences can be served for offences such as non payment of fines. It appears a disproportionate punishment for such an offence to result in both a prison sentence and loss of your home.

© 2001 Scottish Council for Single Homeless