Industry News


Government relaxes certain housing welfare austerity cuts


increase in Universal Credit by £1,000 a year, as part of a series of measures to protect low-income tenants. Although they welcomed the support for


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vulnerable tenants, homelessness charity Shelter said the Government would need to go further on its housing benefit offer. Among a wide package of measures, Mr Rishi Sunak pledged: • Local Housing Allowance (including for Universal Credit claimants) to be boosted to cover the lowest 30th percentile of market rents – reversing the effect of George Osborne’s freeze on the benefit introduced in 2016; and


• The Universal Credit Standard Allowance was boosted by £1,000 for the next 12 months with Working Tax Credits increased by the same amount. The minimum income floor for Universal Credit was suspended for anyone impacted by coronavirus, meaning it can be claimed by any self-employed people out of work at a rate equivalent to statutory sick pay.


The Government banned evictions from social and private housing, but also faced calls to protect people’s income to ensure they did not simply build up huge rent arrears. Polly Neate, chief executive of Shelter said:


“These are vital measures to strengthen the safety net and to keep people in work and they will


he Chancellor of the Exchequer has announced a reversal of the Local Housing Allowance freeze and an


significantly reduce the numbers of people at risk of losing their home. "We are already hearing from people who are rapidly losing work and we think the Government


may need to further increase housing benefit to cover average rents as well as introduce other measures to provide crucial security to these workers during this crisis."


Government bans all evictions for social and private renters


The Government has implemented a package of measures to protect renters and landlords affected by coronavirus. As a result, no tenant in social or privately rented accommodation should be evicted from their home during the crisis. Emergency legislation will prevent landlords


from starting proceedings to evict tenants for at least a three-month period. But Labour’s John Healey has criticised the move


as not going far enough and says the measure is merely adding a three-month interval into the eviction process. He has called for the ban to mirror the mortgage protection scheme given to homeowners. Recognising the additional pressures the


virus may put on landlords, Ministers had previously confirmed that the three-month mortgage payment holiday would be extended to landlords whose tenants are experiencing


financial difficulties due to coronavirus. This alleviates the pressure on buy-to-let


landlords, who were concerned about meeting mortgage payments themselves, and will mean no unnecessary pressure is put on their tenants as a result. At the end of the period, landlords and tenants


will be expected to work together to establish an affordable repayment plan, taking into account tenants’ individual circumstances. The Government worked with the Master of the


Rolls to widen the ‘pre-action protocol’ on possession proceedings, to include private renters and to strengthen its remit. This supports the necessary engagement between landlords and tenants to resolve disputes and landlords will have to reach out to tenants to understand the financial position they are in. The Government is asking landlords to show


8 | HMM April/May 2020 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


compassion and to allow tenants who are affected by this to remain in their homes wherever possible. The National Housing Federation and Local Government Association welcomed the new support for social renters and made clear that no one should be evicted because of coronavirus. Housing Secretary Robert Jenrick MP said: “The


Government is clear – no renter who has lost income due to coronavirus will be forced out of their home, nor will any landlord face unmanageable debts. These changes will protect all renters and private landlords ensuring everyone gets the support they need at this very difficult time. Ben Beadle, Chief Executive of the National


Residential Landlords association said: “Landlord groups welcome the Government support. We recognise the exceptional circumstances and we will work collaboratively with government to ensure these measures protect both landlords and tenants.”


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