New bedroom tax loophole? Calling all LSVT staff

Before I get too excited about this one I need to check my legal background, so I am asking for some help from anyone who is more familiar than I am with the technicalities of stock transfer.  I have some questions:

1. I am aware of at least one LSVT landlord which is not a registered HA.  How common is this?  Is it a one-off anomaly or is that something you are likely to find a lot?

2. Tenancies in ex-Council stock are excluded from referral to the Rent Officer if (and this is the bit I really need help on) the transfer was made under one of the provisions referred to in para 11 of Schedule 2 to the HB Regs 2006:

[a tenancy ...]
(a) in respect of a dwelling comprised in land which has been disposed of under section 32 of the Housing Act 1985 or section 12 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987;
(b) in respect of a dwelling comprised in land which has been disposed of with the consent required by section 43 of the Housing Act 1985 or section 12 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1987;
(c) in respect of which the fee simple estate has been acquired, under the right conferred by Chapter 2 of Part 1 of the Housing Act 1996, otherwise than from a housing action trust within the meaning of Part 3 of the Housing Act 1988, or in respect of which the house has been acquired under the right conferred by Part 3 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 1988; or
(d) in respect of a dwelling disposed of under the New Towns (Transfer of Housing Stock) Regulations 1990 to a person who is an approved person for the purposes of disposal under those Regulations or in respect of a dwelling disposed of pursuant to powers contained in the New Towns (Scotland) Act 1968 to a housing association

Having done a bit of elementary research I think that any LSVT must be covered by one of the above - normally ss32 and 43 of the Housing Act 1985 and Scottish equivalent.  But I don’t feel at all confident about that - am I right?

If so, it appears these cases are exempt from the bedroom tax as long as the landlord is not a registered HA.  In the case of disposals that occurred before 2002, there is a requirement to refer to the RO for a Local Reference Rent/Claim Related Rent in any case where the Council considers th dwelling to be unreasonably large, but:

- that doesn’t apply to post-2002 disposals
- it is quite possible that the LRR/CRR for N bedrooms would be at least as high as the actual rent for N+1 bedrooms
- there is a difference between “large” and “unreasonably large”: in particular where disabled people have compelling reasons for using more bedrooms than the size criteria allow (couple unable to share etc)

Any contributions welcome along the lines of:

- “Yes, it’s quite normal for an LSVT landlord not to be a registered HA.  We are such a landlord and we are not registered”, or
- “Not a registered HA? I am astonished, it must be the only one of its kind”, or
- “Unfortunately those provisions have nothing to do with LSVT, it’s in section X of the Blah Blah Act 19XX”, or
- “Yes, para 11 of Schedule 2 is aimed squarely at LSVT, that’s exactly what those provisions are for”

Thanks

Presumably this would be exemption via reg A13 (2)(a) ?

Not my area at all but I’m pretty sure that those parts of Sched 2 para 11 you’ve mentioned *are* the Stock Transfer provisions - see e.g. Lister and Ward p93 and the Housing Transfer Manual ( https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/housing-transfer-manual-period-to-31-march-2015 )

Don’t know if it’s of any use but (just looking at England for the moment) there’s a table of all completed LSVTs here:-

https://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/sites/default/files/our-work/lsvts_completed_july_2012.csv

(from https://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/existing-stock )

And the list of the (current) registered providers is here:-

http://www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/ourwork/registered-provider-information

Thanks Jon.  Looks like the data exist for this to be checked, will investigate when I have some time.  So far only know of one LSVT landlord that is definitely not an RP.

I have sent you an email regarding this as I think my company may be affected by this legislation but I need to fully understand it.

Thought you might like to know how this turned out.

It appears there is just one LSVT landlord that is not a registered HA and by random chance I stumbled across them.  It seems all parties concerned agree that the bedroom tax should not apply; it’s being sorted; a few hundred people will get arrears of HB paid; it won’t affect anyone else.

So I can stitch another badge on my anorak but the search can be called off.

Looking at the information on line about RSLs most explain that Not for Profit housing companies are also known as HAs. I would guess that theses are less likely to be registered because it is deemed as not necessary. My suggestion is that the RSLs in your area are written to about this.
A few on here do not understand the need for discretion in areas like this. If it a loophole exists and I have no doubts about it,  please please be discreet, don’t go singing it from the roofs and get the loophole closed as per the pre 1996 loophole. We need as much people as possible to benefit from this!

Tony I am not talking doing things the “normal” way. However, the reaction by some in the North West just drummed up antagonism. I won’t go into detail suffice to say local authority staff were slagged off. One particular line was the LA had made a massive cock up. I hope this explains.

A Kent housing association has used its unique ‘unregistered’ status to secure 788 tenants bedroom tax refunds worth in total more than £500,000 ...

... MHS Homes was alerted to the exemption by Peter Barker, a housing benefits expert who trades under the name ‘HB Anorak’. Mr Barker hit the headlines last year when he identified a temporary loophole for tenants who had been claiming benefits since 1996.

http://www.insidehousing.co.uk/tenancies/housing-association-secures-refunds-for-788-bedroom-tax-tenants/7006474.article

Great work (again) Peter ...

short blog piece from supportsolutions.co.uk

http://www.supportsolutions.co.uk/blog/housing_and_benefits/post/788_refunds_for_bedroom_tax_tenants_secured_by_housing_associaition.html

has anyone had a look to see if there may be providers in Scotland that this would affect?

Is it possible for a RSL to deregister. If it is I would imagine the LA would have to agree if the stock was transferred by it!

I can’t see a RSL doing that; for at least two reasons.  They would lose their charitable status which enjoys considerable tax advantages and business rates relief.  And second, they would lose access to financial investment and development land.

Also, as soon as DWP realised what was going on they would amend the wording of Reg A13(2) from “any of paragraphs 4 to 11 of Schedule 2” to “any of paragraphs 4 to 10 of Schedule 2”.

While it’s only MHS, DWP are fairly relaxed about it but if lots of providers started deregistering to bring themselves within the exemption it would be stopped pretty quickly.

Thanks Mr Barker, god loves a trier methinks!