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Agenda item

To receive the following Questions from:

Councillor Tim Thomas to the Deputy Leader

Can the Deputy Leader outline the allocation and usage for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) for this financial year?

 

Councillor Ross Penhale Thomas to the Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations

What assessment has the Cabinet Member made of the availability of good quality, affordable housing in Bridgend county borough?

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

Councillor Tim Thomas to the Deputy Leader

 

Can the Deputy Leader outline the allocation and usage for Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) for this financial year?

 

Response

 

What are Discretionary Housing Payments?

 

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are paid from a cash-limited budget and are intended to help people meet housing costs, usually where there is a shortfall between their Housing Benefit (HB), or housing element of Universal Credit (UC), and their rent. A DHP can only be awarded if the claimant is claiming HB, or UC with housing costs towards rental liability. The initial legislation governing DHPs can be found in the Discretionary Financial Assistance Regulations 2001 (S1 001/1167).

 

‘Housing costs’ are not defined in the regulations and this approach purposely allows broad discretion for interpretation. In general, ‘housing costs’ usually refers to rental liability, although the term can be interpreted more widely to include:

 

           rent in advance

           rent deposits

           other lump sum costs associated with a housing need, such as removal costs

 

Processing a DHP application

 

When processing an application for DHP, consideration is given to:

 

the total weekly or monthly household income

less

reasonable weekly or monthly household expenses

which determines

the shortfall in income to consider for DHP award

 

The value of a DHP payment for an ongoing award cannot exceed the value of the UC housing costs element or, for HB recipients, the contractual rent minus ineligible service charges (see paragraph 5.1 below) e.g. contractual rent is £400 per month, and HB is £344, the maximum DHP amount would therefore be £56 per month.

 

What types of shortfall can DHPs cover?

 

The various shortfalls of HB and UC that a DHP can cover include (but are not limited to):

 

           rent shortfalls to prevent a household becoming homeless whilst the  housing authority explores alternative options

           reductions where the benefit cap has been applied (the benefit cap limits out-of-work benefit income to a maximum of £20,000 for couples and lone parents, and £13,400 for single adults)

           reductions due to the removal of the spare room subsidy (known as the bedroom cap) or as a result of local housing allowance restrictions

           non-dependant deductions in HB or housing cost contributions in UC from non-dependants

           Other technical legislative restrictions:

 

o           rent officer restrictions such as local reference rent or shared accommodation rate

o          Government policy to limit benefit to 2 children

o          income taper reduction

o          removal of the family premium

 

           any other policy changes that limit the amount of HB or UC payable

 

A DHP can be awarded for a rent deposit or rent in advance for a property that the claimant is yet to move into if they are already entitled to HB or UC at their present home, and also payments for past housing costs (including arrears of rent). Further information regarding criteria and considerations can be found in the DWP’s Discretionary Payments Guidance Manual (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/discretionary-housing-payments-guidance-manual).

 

DWP and DHP funding for 2021-2022

 

DHPs have been available to local authorities since 2001. The cash-limited funding is provided by the Department for Works and Pensions (DWP) and since 2011-12, additional funding has been made available to enable local authorities to provide transitional support to claimants as they adjusted to the HB Welfare Reforms.

 

The total DHP funding for England and Wales in 2021-22 is £140 million. The DWP allocated £100m at the start of the year with Bridgend County Borough Council’s initial allocation being £269,861. At the end of September, the DWP allocated the reserved £40 million of funding – at this point, Bridgend was allocated a further £94,596 bringing the total DWP allocation for Bridgend to £364,457.

 

DHP funding regulations provide an overall upper limit for DHP expenditure to 2.5 x the DWP allocation; the additional expenditure over the DWP allocation would have to be funded by the local authority. For Bridgend, the upper limit for 2021-22 is £911,143. Any unused DHP allocation is either not claimed from, or returned to, the DWP (i.e. the local authority cannot retain any unspent funds).

 

DHP expenditure as at 12 November 2021 is:

 

Year - 2021

Total DWP Fund - £364,457

Net Paid to Date - £234,878

Committed*         -  £43,025

Unallocated         -  £86,554

 

*Committed funds include lump-sum awards to be paid immediately, and future on-going awards to be paid in line with the claimant’s rental cycle.

 

The number of DHP decisions made to the 12 November 2021 is 481, resulting in 354 awards. 140 of these have been lump sum payments (removal costs/ rent in advance/ deposits/ arrears), and 214 are for on-going awards.

 

Welsh Government DHP funding for 2021-2022

 

In March 2021, the Minister for Housing and Local Government issued a statement announcing an additional £4.1m funding to top up DHP funds and help local authorities to support tenants in rent arrears (https://gov.wales/written-statement-extension-tenancy-saver-loan-scheme-and-additional-funding-discretionary-housing). The funding has been provided across Wales as a homelessness prevention tool to address rent arrears in the context of the pandemic.

 

Bridgend County Borough Council’s allocation for 2021-22 is £165,988, which will be utilised once the DWP allocation has been fully spent (this additional amount falls within the upper limit). Any expenditure over the DWP allocation up to the £165,988 will be claimed from WG; any expenditure over this amount will be met from existing BCBC budgets.

 

What DHPs cannot cover

 

There are certain elements of a claimant’s rent that the HB and UC regulations exclude so they cannot be included as ‘housing costs’ for the purposes of a DHP. Excluded elements are:

 

           ineligible service charges, such as heating, lighting, hot water, or charges for water rates, or the provision and costs of white goods

           increases in rent due to outstanding rent arrears

           certain sanctions and reductions in benefit

           when HB payments are suspended

           reduced HB due to an overpayment being recovered

 

In addition, DHPs cannot be used for shortfalls between council tax liability and Council Tax Reduction awards.

 

Length of payments

 

There is no defined limit as to the length of time over which a DHP may be made. A time-limited award may be appropriate when an impending change of circumstances will result in an increase in benefit (e.g. the birth of a child leading to an increased HB award). It may also be appropriate to make a short-term award to give a claimant time to organise their financial or housing circumstances, particularly if they are trying to find alternative accommodation or gain employment.

 

Alternatively, a longer-term award could be more appropriate where a claimant’s circumstances are unlikely to change and making a short-term award will cause them undue distress.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Tim Thomas

 

Looking at the relevant data DHP is undeniably going to become increasingly popular due to reasons such as the end of Furlough and Universal Credit and because of Welfare Reform. With this in mind, have you considered devising a Communications Strategy, in order that both public and private renters struggling financially, are kept fully informed that DHP is available and of the criteria required to qualify for this.

 

Response

 

Any opportunities we have to promote the services available to the public from the Council, etc, we seek to take full advantage of and in terms of DHP, we engage with free advisory organisations, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau who in turn, offer free advice to residents who find themselves in difficulties including financial difficulty. I will also arrange for a press release to be made available regarding DHP and its benefits.

 

Question from Councillor Ross-Penhale Thomas to the Cabinet Member Wellbeing and Future Generations 

 

What assessment has the Cabinet Member made of the availability of good quality, affordable housing in Bridgend county borough?

 

Response

 

Affordable Housing

It is a multi-layered issue with many components, involving land availability, development opportunities and partnership working, and the role of the private sector in providing rented accommodation all of which can be influenced by housing market fluctuations.  

 

Specific policies in the Local Development Plan (LDP) backed up by Supplementary Planning Guidance requires all new development of 5 or more houses to contribute to affordable housing either as part of the scheme or by way of offsite contribution. This can include direct provision or subsidy.  Planning & Housing teams work closely on each development proposal to agree the exact scope and nature of the contribution and how it will be applied.  This can then be secured through Section 106 agreements.

 

There are many strategies and plans which support the assessment of affordable housing needs – The Local Development Plan, Local Housing Market Assessment, Gypsy and Traveller Assessment.  These are supplemented by the rehousing register which records demand and needs for social housing throughout the County which in turn supports the delivery of the Registered Social Landlords (RSL’s) development programme which has seen an increase in this financial year, and for the next 2 years, to £10m Social Housing Grant per annum. Discussions with the RSL’s and Welsh Government takes place regularly to support their development proposals. As the grant only partially funds each development, additional private funding will be attracted into these projects on a scheme by scheme basis by the RSL’s. Our Homelessness Strategy also provides information on needs, and work is currently underway on updating this information through a Homelessness Review and Housing Support Programme Strategy which will identify housing and support needs for the future.

 

RSL’s working within the County include Wales and West, Hafod, Linc (Cymru) United Welsh, Coastal and, V2C which has the largest stock in the Borough.  Discussions take place regularly on schemes to shape the RSL development programme to meet housing needs throughout the County.  Social housing developments must meet planning permissions, WG financial cost guidelines and quality standards before they are supported for grant. Other opportunities are not necessarily discounted but must go through the relevant processes and approvals before they can be considered.  

 

Additionally, as part of the Covid-19 response the Council has been successful in attracting additional capital funding grant of £2,508,231 from Welsh Government for homelessness projects, this is for a mixture of new build, refurbishment and acquisition of property.  When private finance is included the total expenditure is likely to be in the region of £6,783,689.

 

Good Quality

Looking at post-build, the Shared Regulatory Service works with Landlords in the Private Rented Sector to ensure that they are aware of their obligations when renting out properties. We also work closely with Rent Smart Wales who operate a Registration and Licensing Scheme for Landlords, and as part of this Landlords and Managing agents are required to complete Mandatory Training. Where there is non-compliance we are able to use our Enforcement Powers under the Housing Act 2004 to bring about improvements to properties. In addition, we also work with owners of Empty Properties and advise them of initiatives that are available for them to bring their properties back into use and make them available to rent.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Ross Penhale-Thomas

 

We have some of the oldest and inadequate housing stock in Europe and Shelter Cymru, for example, are aware that there are some cases at the moment where tenants rent has doubled overnight from £700 to £1,400 a month, with inflation increasing far ahead of wages. What more can be done as a local authority to improve the private rental sector that serves both tenants and landlords and eases the housing crisis, to ensure that tenants have security in terms of long-term accommodation. Long term tenancy gives both the tenant and the landlord peace of mind.

 

Response

 

We are working with Cartrefi Hafod to promote rental schemes via a private landlord. I live in a community where landlords of private accommodation rent out a considerable number of houses in the Ogmore Valley area. Based on that, there is evidence that the authority does link in effectively with private landlords where these are available, who provide housing rental in areas such as my own, as there is often little alternative means of housing available, particularly for those on low or little income. In terms of affordable housing, I have just received a letter from Welsh Government WG), confirming that they are launching a scheme to help bridge any viability gaps. WG are committing to the provision of 20,000 affordable homes during the term of the Senedd and within the realms of this scheme, local authorities can apply for up to 50% towards bridging such viability gap. I will be happy to have further discussions with the Member regarding this, outside of the meeting

 

Second supplementary question from Councillor Paul Davies

 

Could the Cabinet Member – Future Generations and Wellbeing advise us how many new affordable homes have been built in the County Borough within the term of the administration and with the additional social housing grant from WG, how much more funding is due to come to BCBC.

 

Response

 

In terms of the funding element, WG have increased their allocated amount from £3m to £10m from 2019. I think that’s a significant increase and I am grateful to WG for this. In terms of the pipeline, it is difficult to say, however, there is 432 houses projected over the next 3 years. This is dependent on certain factors however, such as the market at the time and whether or not our RSL’s have the resources available to build this estimated amount of dwellings within the above period

 

 

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