Budget June 2010

The Government have announced a package of reforms to Housing Benefit, including:

• changing the way Local Housing Allowances are worked out from October 2011
  uprating Local Housing Allowances from 2013-14
• using the Consumer Price Index (CPI)setting a maximum Local Housing Allowance amount for each property sizefrom October 2010
• Support for Mortgage Interest payments will use an interest rate equal to the Bank of England’s published monthly Average Mortgage Rate
• maximum limits on Housing Benefit (from £250 a week for a one-bedroom property to £400 a week for a four-bedroom or larger)
• from April 2013, the size of houses for working age people in the social sector will reflect family size reversing the freeze since 2001-02
• deductions for nondependents – these will be uprated in April 2011 based on the Consumer Price Index (CPI)
• from April 2013 reducing Housing Benefit to 90 per cent after 12 months of getting Jobseekers Allowance
• increasing the budget for hardship cases (Discretionary Housing Payments) by 40 million nationally
• covering the cost of an extra room for disabled claimants who need a carer to stay overnight

The Government have also published a document about future welfare reform called ‘21 st Century Welfare’. The document sets out how the Government propose to simplify the benefit system and improve work incentives.

For more information about the budget and future welfare reform visit www.direct.gov.uk