More young families being left "homeless", figures reveal
MORE families with young children are being forced into homelessness in Gloucestershire, figures have revealed.
Problems in getting access to private properties for rent and changes to the benefit system have been blamed for the rise.
The latest statistics for a three-month period in 2012 show that, compared to the same period the year before, there has been a drastic increase in households with young people who have experienced statutory homelessness.
Statutory homelessness is defined as a household which the local authority must provide accommodation for if they are not intentionally without a home.
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At the end of September 2012, there were 168 households in the county in this situation compared to 119 in September 2011. It means an extra 49 households were struggling to find a home.
According to the county council, the increase has been blamed on changes to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). LHA dictates how much money a claimant can receive in housing benefit and is now directly related to how many bedrooms they have. There is also a limit on how much a person can receive depending on where they live. This has caused problems for some families who simply cannot afford to stay in their home.
This has been compounded by the challenge of a private rental sector which is often reluctant to accept tenants who are on benefits. As a result, organisations across the county are trying to work more with private landlords to solve the problem.
Councillor Peter Jeffries (LD, Springbank), Cheltenham Borough Council cabinet member for housing and safety, said: "If we have any influence at a borough level, then we should definitely look at what we are able to do to help these people. We should also be using our influence at a county and national level to put the pressure on and make changes if they are needed."
3 Comments
by MissyMadDog
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 2:39PM
“All housing benefit recipients will soon have the responsibility for ensuring they pay landlords themselves, as direct payments to landlords are being scrapped. This doesn't make any sense to me and in certain areas of the country where this scheme is being tested, rent arrears have increased dramatically. As well as private landlords being reluctant to take those on housing benefit, it will surely prove very costly with housing associations having to take more tenants to court in an attempt to recover rent. The most sensible thing to do is to have all housing benefit paid straight to landlords/housing associations. I just don't understand why the government are scrapping direct payments when it's just going to cause so much hassle for all involved.”
by Matt1006
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 8:41AM
“So it's clear that we need lots of AFFORDABLE housing, and not thousands of open-market houses which the developers can't then sell.
And at the same time there is still a million-plus existing empty properties across the country. When are the Government going to do something meaningful to deal with this ongoing national disgrace? We see a few stories about a local authority (including those in Glos.) buying up the odd empty through Compulsory Purchase Orders, but one here and one there is no good. It needs a dedicated national drive to blitz the empty stock.
Guess it comes down to finding the money to give to the LA's to allow them to pursue CPO's and then renovate / rebuild as necessary. Although if done properly there is money to be made. And not to mention plenty of job creation.”
by Walker100
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 8:31AM
“"This has been compounded by the challenge of a private rental sector which is often reluctant to accept tenants who are on benefits."
The single biggest issue for private landlords is tenants not paying rent and then the landlord having to go through a 3 month eviction process that can cost thousands of pounds. I know there are private tenants that have not paid rent for years as they go from one flat or house to another not paying rent and eventually being evicted, all the while pocketing their housing benefit.
This impacts massively on the private rented sector costs. If a landlord believes that he is going to lose such sums of money at some stage then he needs to charge higher rents to cover those losses.
A very simple change to legislation would reduce private rented costs immediately and more private landlords would welcome benefit claiming tenants. Simply allow landlords to be paid direct from housing benefit instead of it going into the tenants pocket first.”