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Sheltered housing developments ‘shelved due to benefit cuts’

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Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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So BBC News finally reporting about the proposed cap to housing benefit payments for social sector tenants and highlighting that at least four housing associations are saying they’ve put new developments on hold.

Hundreds of planned new sheltered accommodation units have been delayed or scrapped owing to proposed cuts to housing benefit, the BBC has learned. Several housing associations have said they are no longer financially viable.

The flats, for the elderly or people with learning disabilities, are more expensive to build and run because they provide additional support.

The National Housing Federation (NHF) has calculated that nearly 2,500 units have so far been scrapped or delayed as sheltered housing providers face losing an average of £68 a week per tenant.

As bad as this story is (and as has been raised elsewhere by people like Joe Speye), it’s the response from DWP that made me scream with frustration. What did they say? You guessed it…..

We are also providing councils with £870m of Discretionary Housing Payments which can be paid to people in supported accommodation.

Is there any welfare reform of any description where a DHP isn’t the solution? Answers on a postcard please….

Sheltered housing developments ‘shelved due to benefit cuts’

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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And also come across this in the Guardian, which is pretty clear why DWP response is pathetic.

The DWP seems to think discretionary housing payments will fill the gap left by the benefits cap, but this is wholly inadequate. Housing associations like ours cannot build a business plan based on discretionary payments. I doubt if our regulator, the Homes and Communities Agency, would regard that as fit-for-purpose risk management.

The DWP has also suggested that because the cap will not take effect until 2018, we should not panic people at this stage. But closing services takes time. We would need to consult residents, relatives, local strategic authorities and commissioners, and we would need to identify alternative accommodation and support. When we have previously had to close servicesor consult about potentially doing so, it has taken years, not weeks, to do properly.

Our support for vulnerable tenants will be destroyed by this benefits cap

HB Anorak
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I don’t know how everyone can be so certain that the social sector LHA will apply to supported accommodation.  There is no draft legislation yet and the Blue Book certainly did not say that supported accommodation is affected. 

My understanding is that the future of all supported accommodation (not just in the regulated social sector) is the subject of a separate review which might result in something like the lead-in to Supporting People between 2000 and 2003: extra costs of providing supported accommodation identified and ring-fenced, probably a hefty percentage deducted and the rest devolved to local authorities to commission services locally.  In the long term that would mean that HB and UC only cover standard housing costs, but I would be surprised if it happens as quickly as 2018.  It took a lot longer than that to get SP up and running.  I would have thought that in the meantime the HB “exempt accommodation” rules will soldier on in both the charitable/voluntary sector and the regulated social sector.

The comments made about DHPs by ministers seem to be referring to the same kinds of cases that are notionally favoured under the bedroom tax - adapted accommodation, couples using two bedrooms etc.

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HB Anorak - 16 February 2016 10:34 AM

I don’t know how everyone can be so certain that the social sector LHA will apply to supported accommodation.  There is no draft legislation yet and the Blue Book certainly did not say that supported accommodation is affected. 

My understanding is that the future of all supported accommodation (not just in the regulated social sector) is the subject of a separate review which might result in something like the lead-in to Supporting People between 2000 and 2003: extra costs of providing supported accommodation identified and ring-fenced, probably a hefty percentage deducted and the rest devolved to local authorities to commission services locally.  In the long term that would mean that HB and UC only cover standard housing costs, but I would be surprised if it happens as quickly as 2018.  It took a lot longer than that to get SP up and running.  I would have thought that in the meantime the HB “exempt accommodation” rules will soldier on in both the charitable/voluntary sector and the regulated social sector.

The comments made about DHPs by ministers seem to be referring to the same kinds of cases that are notionally favoured under the bedroom tax - adapted accommodation, couples using two bedrooms etc.

So HB Anorak…. as a supported housing project manager, employing full time staff, how long am I guaranteed HB via exempt accommodation rules? I need to retender for a 3 year contract.

 

 

HB Anorak
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I don’t know, but if you are in that position it isn’t LHA maxima per se you need to be concerned about: the exempt accommodation review is the issue that affects you.

It is impossible to say with any certainty what will come out of it (it could get kicked into the long grass yet again), but it is important to remember that the funding of exempt accommodation is already localised outside the regulated social sector: the expenditure is demand-led, local authorities have no choice but to pony up if the provider (whose not-for-profit credentials may be somewhat spurious) satisfies a fairly low threshold of providing more than minimal support while the government only reimburses the expenditure up to a Rent Officer’s drive-by bricks and mortar valuation.

A lot of people in local authorities would welcome a move away from demand-led to commissioned-only because it would shut down the shysters while protecting reputable providers including the one that you hypothetically manage.  So the answer to the question would be: if you are running a service with an existing commissioned support contract and the local authority values you as a good provider you are probably safe.

It’s all speculation, but I was simply pointing out that there is as far as I can see no firm basis for the statement in the Guardian article that “the Department for Work and Pensions intends to apply the cap to housing benefit for tenants in supported and sheltered housing”.  If someone can direct me to a statement by DWP that they do intend to do that, and that they do not intend to provide any funds for local commissioning over and above the DHP pot already announced, I’ll gladly join in the outrage and apocalyptic predictions.

Paul_Treloar_AgeUK
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I would suggest that the problem is actually exactly the opposite one to that you highlight. It’s the fact that the government said they do intend to cap social sector HB entitlements to the appropriate LHA rate and nothing more that has generated the confusion. The fact that they subsequently announced the review of how this type of accommodation might be accommodated under the new rules was directly in response to supported housing providers starting to ask questions as to whether this would apply to them or not?

They’ve already done exactly the same thing with universal credit i.e. completely overlooked exempt accommodation, when drafting relevant housing costs legislation. One could almost feel as if they’re making some of this up as they go along, or so it feels sometimes.

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Paul_Treloar_AgeUK - 16 February 2016 01:06 PM

One could almost feel as if they’re making some of this up as they go along, ....

Wash your mouth out!

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http://www.homeless.org.uk/connect/blogs/2016/jan/26/capping-of-social-housing-rents-what-impact-will-it-have-on-your-service

This is from Homeless Link they are not known for being alarmist.

Will this affect your organisation?

From what we understand, supported housing will be covered by the new rules. This has understandably caused alarm among our members. The potential impact of this change could lead to services becoming financially unviable due to the extent of the shortfall this would create between the costs of running your services the amount eligible under LHA. We have prioritised this issue and, since the announcements, we have been working with the Government to seek clarity and understand how the projected impact will be mitigated. While the Government has said they are committed to protecting supported housing, the mechanism for how that will happen is not yet known. We are not confident that additional Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) will be sufficient to cover the gap in revenue this would create. - See more at: http://www.homeless.org.uk/connect/blogs/2016/jan/26/capping-of-social-housing-rents-what-impact-will-it-have-on-your-service#sthash.ZYdytNLm.dpuf

hbinfopeter
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“As bad as this story is (and as has been raised elsewhere by people like Joe Speye), it’s the response from DWP that made me scream with frustration. What did they say? You guessed it…..

We are also providing councils with £870m of Discretionary Housing Payments which can be paid to people in supported accommodation.

Is there any welfare reform of any description where a DHP isn’t the solution? Answers on a postcard please….”


This made me laugh. No…no need for a postcard. Its the cure all for the 21st century welfare state…

Medicine shows ....are most commonly associated with “miracle elixirs” (sometimes referred to as snake oil), which, it was claimed, had the ability to cure any disease, smooth wrinkles, remove stains, prolong life or cure any number of common ailments.

DHP’s….snake oil…..yes I see the connection.


DWP are currently carrying out an external review of exempt and I am hopeful that they will clarify the way forward by the end of this month. 

[ Edited: 16 Feb 2016 at 07:06 pm by hbinfopeter ]
1964
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Oh I SO agree. I was ranting to similar effect just last night. I seem to do a great deal of that these days.

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hbinfopeter - 16 February 2016 06:45 PM

DWP are currently carrying out an external review of exempt and I am hopeful that they will clarify the way forward by the end of this month.

These proposals have been talked about since 2011, so I fear you are likely to be disappointed.

The problem is that some parts of the Housing Sector have now lost trust, and they can see the end of exempt accommodation.

You cant create projects and run contracts on a hope of DHP, eg can you imagine going to a lender to borrow with a business plan that is based on err we will be putting in for DHPs….... NO….so new projects do get shelved. 

 

hbinfopeter
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I do have a bit of inside info on this because hbinfo has a briefing event on the 29th February and the official responsible for this area has agreed to set out the vision for the future on exempt. I fully agree that discretionary payments are not the way forward!

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I hope your event goes well.

A destination port would be a fine start…... We then just need to communicate it to rest of the armada ..... and hope (err) for a very favourable wind.  etc.

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The DWP and DCLG Supported Accommodation review has now started apace (?) the request for information to help map the whole supported housing sector is be returned by 4th March.

It is headed ......................Response Critical.

http://technology-trust-news.org/F3O-41MGR-8860KHC4A0/cr.aspx

 

Gareth Morgan
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Which makes it more difficult to expect an informed announcement on the 29th February.  (Although I have to say some of the other speakers are excellent)

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Gareth Morgan - 19 February 2016 09:39 AM

Which makes it more difficult to expect an informed announcement on the 29th February.  (Although I have to say some of the other speakers are excellent)

I confess, I often find presentations a tad dry, when the facts and the detailed research interfere with the the “vision”.