Title
Contents
Acknowledgements 10
The Authors 11
1. Local Housing Allowance administration 12
1.1. Introduction and summary 12
1.2. Main findings 13
2. Local Housing Allowance and financial management 32
2.1. Introduction and summary 32
2.2. Main findings 32
3. Local Housing Allowance and homelessness 42
3.1. Introduction and summary 42
3.2. Main findings 42
4. Local Housing Allowance and landlords 48
4.1. Introduction and summary 48
4.2. Main findings 48
5. Local Housing Allowance and fraud and error 54
5.1. Introduction and summary 54
5.2. Main findings 55
6. Rent levels and the general state of repair in the Private Rented Sector 62
6.1. Introduction and summary 62
6.2. Main findings 64
Appendix. The survey 70
Methodology 70
ample 70
Questionnaire design 71
Fieldwork 72
Interpretation of the data 73
Sample profile 76
Advance letter 77
Questionnaire 79
Table 6.1. What percentage of homes let to HB/LHA tenants in the PRS in your LA would you say are in an excellent state of repair, a good state of repair, an adequate state of repair and a poor state of repair? 64
Table A.1. Data analysis variables 73
Table A.2. Wave 20 sampling error 74
Table A.3. Response rates by local authority type for Benefit Officers 75
Table A.4. Sample profile 76
Figure 1.1. Overall, does your LA find that it requires more, less or about the same staff time to administer LHA than the old HB scheme for Private Rented Sector (PRS) tenants? 13
Figure 1.2. In what particular areas do you think it requires more staff time to operate LHA than the old HB scheme for PRS tenants? 14
Figure 1.3. Now that LHA has been in operation for some time, taking into account all aspects of LHA, would you say that in the last year the administration of LHA has got more or less efficient or has it stayed about the same? 15
Figure 1.4. What percentage of claimants do you estimate have experienced problems with their LHA payments? 16
Figure 1.5. What are the most common problems with LHA claims and payments between the LA and the claimant? 17
Figure 1.6. Does your LA have one PRS team (incorporating LHA) or does your LA/will your LA have an independent LHA team? 18
Figure 1.7. Have queries from tenants for advice and information increased, decreased or stayed the same with the introduction of LHA? What are the two areas that TENANTS query most often in relation to the LHA? 19
Figure 1.8. What are the two areas that LANDLORDS query most often in relation to the LHA? (Wave 20 and Wave 18 findings in brackets) 20
Figure 1.9. Are determinations about whether safeguards should be applied to an LHA case referred to a specific member of staff who has expertise in this area or are they dealt with as part of the standard functions of the teams processing HB? 21
Figure 1.10. Local Housing Allowance payments are made direct to tenants but under certain circumstances can be made to landlords instead. What checks does your LA have in place when considering making payments directly to the claimant? 22
Figure 1.11. What proportion of claimants (or their agents) do you estimate request, at any time, to have their payment go to their landlord or letting agent? 23
Figure 1.12. What are the main reasons for claimants (or their agents) requesting that their HB/LHA is paid to their landlord? 24
Figure 1.13. What are the most common reasons a request to have rent paid to the landlord is rejected? 25
Figure 1.14. Do you feel your LA receives enough guidance from DWP to implement the safeguards consistently? What other information, if any, would your LA find helpful to receive from DWP to help implement the safeguards? 26
Figure 1.15. What evidence (in support of a claim to pay to the landlord) is the most difficult to collect/causes the most problems? 27
Figure 1.16. What are the main reasons for claimants (or their agents) requesting that their HB/LHA is changed so that it is paid direct to them? 28
Figure 1.17. Does this change (to claimants receiving the payment themselves) generally cause problems with the landlord or the letting agency? Please describe how this change (to claimants receiving the payment themselves)... 29
Figure 2.1. As you are aware, receiving payments means tenants must manage their own money. In cases where your LA currently make HB payments directly to tenants, how often are payment periods made to coincide with rent charging periods? 33
Figure 2.2. Have rent arrears increased, decreased or stayed the same in your LA because of LHA? 34
Figure 2.3. Have your LA's DHPs to the Private Rented Sector (PRS) increased, decreased or stayed the same in the last year? 35
Figure 2.4. Do you think this is because of LHA, the economic climate, or both? 36
Figure 2.5. Where a claimant does not have a bank account or does not understand how bank accounts operate, which of the following actions does your LA take? How do you provide this in-house advice to claimants who do not have a bank account... 37
Figure 2.6. What proportion of LHA cases do you estimate have needed money advice in your LA? 38
Figure 2.7. Does your LA currently have facilities for claimants to cash their HB/LHA cheques free of charge? Did you introduce this facility for claimants to cash their HB/LHA cheques free of charge as a result of LHA? 39
Figure 2.8. Have you noticed any claimants terminating an HB claim in order to leave a week's gap so that they can move on to LHA, or not? IF YES: are a lot of claimants doing this or just a few? 40
Figure 3.1. What are the three main reasons for homelessness in your LA for those who would normally be housed in the Private Rented Sector (PRS)? (Wave 20 and Wave 16 in brackets) 43
Figure 3.2. Since the roll-out of LHA do you think that homelessness has increased as a result of LHA, decreased as a result of LHA or that LHA has had no impact on homelessness? 44
Figure 3.3. Which organisations is your LA in touch with regularly about homelessness issues? Wave 20 compared to Wave 16 45
Figure 3.4. Since the roll-out of LHA do you think that Social Rented Sector waiting lists have increased as a result of LHA, decreased as a result of LHA or that LHA has had no impact on Social Rented Sector waiting lists? 46
Figure 4.1. Thinking generally, are landlords in your area happy to let property to people on HB? In your opinion, since LHA, have private sector landlords been more or less willing to let property to HB tenants or has there been no change? 49
Figure 4.2. Do you think that customers claiming LHA move house more frequently, less frequently or about the same under LHA than under the pre-LHA system? 50
Figure 4.3. Since the introduction of LHA in April 2008, have private sector landlords been more or less willing to let to single people aged under 25 (compared with under the pre-LHA HB scheme for private sector tenants)? 51
Figure 4.4. Why do you feel that some landlords do not want to let to single people under 25? 52
Figure 4.5. Again, thinking generally, do you feel that landlords in your area are raising their rents to LHA levels? 53
Figure 5.1. Do you think the level of fraud and error has increased, decreased or stayed the same as a consequence of the introduction of the LHA scheme (compared to the HB scheme for private sector tenants)? 55
Figure 5.2. Do you think the level of overpayment has increased, decreased or stayed the same as a consequence of the introduction of the LHA scheme (compared to the pre-LHA HB scheme for private sector tenants)? 56
Figure 5.3. What are the two main areas in which overpayments have increased under the LHA compared to the HB scheme for private sector tenants? 57
Figure 5.4. Do you think the level of underpayment due to fraud and error has increased, decreased or stayed the same since the introduction of the LHA scheme (compared to the HB scheme for private sector tenants)? 58
Figure 5.5. Do you think tenants and landlords are more or less likely to report change of circumstances under LHA than under the previous housing benefit scheme for Private Rented Sector (PRS) or is it about the same? 59
Figure 5.6. Please tick the one that your LA does most often to recover overpayments from claimants, then tick the one that your LA does second and third most often 60
Figure 6.1. Is the state of repair reflected in the rent level charged? 65
Figure 6.2. Have you noticed landlords increasing rents to LHA levels? 66
Figure 6.3. Do you feel that landlords are increasing rent to LHA levels without carrying out appropriate repairs and maintenance, or not? 67
Figure 6.4. In your experience, are landlords carrying out more or less repairs and renovations to improve property standards since the introduction of LHA in April 2008 when compared with the pre-LHA period? 68