Scotland’s Housing Minister calls for urgent action from UK Government to support tenants affected by coronavirus pandemic

Letter to Work and Pensions Secretary includes call to relax benefit backdating rules and extend period of payment for those who might not have realised they were eligible

Scotland’s Housing Minister has written to the Work and Pensions Secretary Thérèse Coffey calling for urgent action to support tenants affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

In his letter to the Secretary of State, Housing Minister Kevin Stewart outlines the steps taken in Scotland to support renters - including increasing the amount available for discretionary housing payments by £5 million to almost £16 million - and highlights that the housing elements of social security remain a crucial part of the support needed by tenants facing financial difficulty as a result of the pandemic, and that these remain reserved to the UK Government.

As a result, Mr Stewart calls for urgent action from the government, including to -

• lift local housing allowance rates further than the 30th percentile of local rents applicable from April 2020 to make more homes affordable to renters;
• suspend the bedroom tax, particularly as a spare room becomes essential when larger families need space to isolate;
• suspend the benefit cap;
• suspend the shared accommodation rate for under-35s; and
• extend the backdating of benefits for those who might not have realised they were eligible as a result of the pandemic, and relax the criteria under which backdating is allowed.

For more information, and the full text of Mr Stewart's letter, see Action needed to help renters from gov.scot