Welfare Reform Changes

In April 2013, the Government made major changes to the welfare benefits scheme. There were several changes and the impact upon you will depend on your personal circumstances.

Below is a list of the changes that have been made:

Under Occupation – Spare bedroom (s)

From April 2013, Housing Benefit has been reduced for working age people living in council and Housing Association properties if they have spare bedrooms.

If ‘under occupying’ by 1 bedroom, the rent used to calculate your entitlement to housing benefit will be reduced by 14%.
If ‘under occupying’ by 2 or more bedrooms, the rent used to calculate your entitlement to housing benefit will be reduced by 25%

Personal Independence Payment

Please find a checklist of how to prepare for the introduction of the Personal Independence Payment.

Hackney Council Social Fund

In 2013, Hackney Council introduceD a new local assistance scheme to assist the most vulnerable. This will replace parts of the Social Fund scheme currently run by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

Community Care Grants – payments for cooker, bed, etc., and
Crisis Loans – for general living expenses e.g money lost or stolen.

The council’s new scheme is not the same as the DWP scheme. Download information about the new scheme.

Crisis loan provision now and in the future

The Hackney Discretionary Crisis Support Scheme

Discretionary Housing Payment

For those Housing Benefit recipients who do not have their rent met in full by Housing Benefit and have a temporary situation which makes it difficult to pay their rent, they can receive extra help in the form of a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHPs). Awards are designed to be temporary and short term and are made on a case by case basis dependent on individual circumstances.

DHPs are not a solution for ongoing/long term rental shortfalls between Housing Benefit and rent. DHP’s can be made for a weekly or monthly benefit top up or as a lump sum to cover removal costs, deposits and rent in advance for tenants wishing to move Awards can also be made retrospectively.

Please find Hackney’s new:

DHP application form

DHP guide to discretionary housing payments

More information can be found on the London Borough of Hackney’s DHP web page.

Please note that Discretionary Housing Payments cannot cover shortfalls between Council Tax and Council Tax Reduction entitlement.

The Spare Room Subsidy (Benefit Cap)

A limit has been put on the total amount of benefit that most working age people can get. This is called the benefit cap and was introduced in 2013.

There are some exemptions when the cap will not apply. All households which include someone who is receiving the following benefits are exempt:

Disability Living Allowance
Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit
Personal Independence Payment
The supported component of ESA
Attendance Allowance
War Widows or War Widower’s pension
Households receiving Working Tax Credit

If you are affected your Housing Benefit will be reduced. The level of the cap is:

£500 a week for couples (with or without children living with them)
£500 a week for single parents whose children live with them
£350 a week for single adults who don’t have children, or whose children don’t live with them

If you’re already getting benefits and could be affected by the cap you’ll be contacted by the DWP. They’ll let you know what will happen to your benefits. If your household is going to be affected you need to take action now. If you are a Housing Association or Council tenant, you should let your landlord know that there may be a problem immediately.

Council Tax Benefit changes

Existing council tax benefit claimants were automatically moved onto the new scheme on 1 April 2013. However, the amount of help they receive may have changed.

Working age people now:

have to pay at least 15% of their council tax regardless of their income
are no longer be eligible for second adult rebate
have the amount of income they can have each week (before it affects their entitlement) frozen at 2012/13 levels.

This means that all working households now have to pay at least some of their council tax. For someone in a band D property in receipt of 100% entitlement this means a maximum payment of £3.76 a week.