MRAssociates — Knowledge base
We provide the only free knowledge base in the UK dedicated to Supported Exempt Accommodation
In the same topic…
- contentWhy is exempt accommodation exempt from benefit limits?
- contentWhere does the law define “exempt accommodation”?
- contentWhat is the history of exempt accommodation?
- contentWhat is Supported Exempt Accommodation?
- contentWhat is disguised profit?
- contentWhat is an asset lock?
- contentWhat is a non-metropolitan county council in England?
- contentWhat is a housing association?
- contentWhat is a DWP resettlement grant?
- contentWhat are the benefit limits from which exempt accommodation is exempt?
- contentWhat are the advantages of exempt accommodation?
- contentWhat is a voluntary organisation?
- contentTell me more about registered housing associations and exempt accommodation
- contentTell me more about registered societies
- contentWhat is exempt accommodation?
- contentHow is housing benefit calculated when a person living in exempt accommodation is employed?
- contentHow is Housing Benefit calculated for exempt accommodation?
- contentHow is accommodation “provided by” a social or voluntary sector landlord?
- contentHow does the taper work for employed claimants living in exempt accommodation? (Figures)
- contentWhat is the law on exempt accommodation subsidy?
- contentSubsidy calculation when the landlord is a registered housing association
- contentHow do the housing benefit subsidy arrangements work in exempt accommodation
- contentWhat does “not trading for profit” mean?
- contentSubsidy calculation when the landlord is a charity, voluntary organisation or English non-metropolitan county council
- contentWhich landlords count as being in the social or voluntary sector?
- contentWhat is a registered charity?
- contentCan a not-for-profit body buy goods and services from its own members and directors?
- contentWhere does the law define exempt work?
- contentExamples of subsidy for exempt accommodation
Topics
What is the social sector LHA?
Basic Info
In November 2015 the government announced that Housing Benefit for tenants in the regulated social sector will be restricted to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate applicable to the household from April 2018. “Regulated social sector” means accommodation provided by registered housing associations and local authorities. The announcement made a point of saying that HB for single tenants under 35 will be restricted to the shared accommodation LHA rate in the same way that it is for private tenants under 35. The LHA will only affect new tenancies entered into on or after 1 April 2016. Although the policy announcement did not refer to Universal Credit (UC), it would be reasonable to assume that the social sector LHA will apply to UC because by 2018 the majority of new benefit claims will be for UC and not for “legacy” benefits including HB.
Does the social sector LHA replace the bedroom tax?
Social sector tenants are not guaranteed to have their full rent covered by HB or UC: if the claimant has spare bedrooms according to criteria in the HB and UC Regulations, the bedroom tax reduces the rent eligible for benefit by 14% or 25%. It seems likely that the social sector LHA will run alongside the bedroom tax and the claimant’s benefit will be based on the lesser of the LHA and the rent as it would have been before the social sector LHA policy was introduced. Otherwise, the social sector LHA would have the effect of lifting the majority of claimants out of the bedroom tax because:
- The private sector LHA is normally more than the social rent for an equivalent size property
- In most cases the LHA is more than the affordable rent for an equivalent property
- In many cases, the LHA is sufficient to cover the social or affordable rent for a larger property (especially in London)
It seems improbable that the government will allow people currently subject to the bedroom tax to receive higher amounts of HB through the social sector LHA: that is why it is likely that the social sector LHA will be an alternative limit which applies where the eligible rent would otherwise be higher. The majority of cases where the social sector LHA is less than the social or affordable rent will be where the tenant is a single person under 35 because in most cases single people under 35 have an LHA rate based on the cost of a room in a shared house.
Does the social sector LHA apply to supported accommodation?
For the time being certain aspects of the social sector LHA policy remain unclear, especially whether it will affect supported accommodation and, if it does affect supported accommodation, what kind of alternative funding arrangements will be put in place to cover what the government acknowledges are the higher costs of providing and managing supported accommodation. The government has been reviewing how supported accommodation is funded since 2009 and several times ministers have said that their long term aim is to devolve funds to local authorities to cover the higher running costs of supported accommodation while the security scheme allows standard amounts for housing costs across the board. This page will be updated as soon as any firm policy proposals emerge from the review.