MSPs Must Ask: What’s the Benefit of Welfare Reforms?

MSPs must take the chance today (Wednesday 5th October) to assess how proposed reforms to Housing Benefit will impact on Scotland's tenants and the housing association sector, in a debate in the Scottish Parliament

on the UK Government's Welfare Reforms.

The Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) is making the call following independent research, commissioned by the Federation, showed that one in five tenants in Scotland is set to lose money as a result of the reforms. There will also be a knock-on effect on the income of housing associations and co-operatives, who manage almost half of Scotland's affordable housing. (1)

SFHA Policy & Strategy Manager David Ogilvie said:

"The SFHA urges MSPs in today's debate to look closely at how damaging these changes to Housing Benefit will be for Scotland's tenants and for the providers of affordable housing, and act accordingly.

"Not only will these changes unfairly penalise some of the poorest people in society, but they cut across some of the work which the Scottish Parliament and Government is trying to do to provide more affordable homes. Associations and co-operatives are currently being faced with a double whammy - cuts to development funding to build more new affordable homes, combined with these cuts in Housing Benefit which will make tenant's incomes far more uncertain.

"We call upon the Scottish Parliament to give the UK Coalition Government a much-needed reality check in today's debate. Otherwise we will all pay the price in years to come. We are at risk of seeing increased homelessness, greater poverty and a more ‘broken society' than that which the UK Government believes we already have."

The SFHA is recommending a number of changes before the Bill becomes law.

In a briefing sent to all MSPs (2), SFHA highlights the following concerns with the Housing Benefit proposals:

• Our opposition to the under-occupation penalty. This will penalise tenants who live in a property judged to be too big - even if there is no suitable alternative.

• Our call for tenants to keep the right to choose to have their Housing Benefit paid directly to the landlord - this helps tenants to budget and prevents them getting into arrears*.

• Our opposition to any break in the link between the housing costs subsidy and actual rents - in other words, the subsidy should be linked to fluctuations in rents.

• Our concerns about the operation of the overall benefits cap in relation to housing costs.

• Our concern about the new provision (introduced at Commons Report Stage) regarding deduction of Housing Benefit overpayments from earnings.

David Ogilvie added:

"Currently 96% of tenants have their Housing Benefit paid directly to their landlord, so it seems odd that a pro-consumer choice government has determined that this section of society should be denied their consumer rights."

The SFHA is a member of SCoWR, the Scottish Campaign on Welfare Reform (3), and supports its wider recommendations on welfare reform. Speaking ahead of the debate SCoWR Co-ordinator Maggie Kelly, of the Poverty Alliance, said:

"The Welfare Reform Bill, as it stands, will have a very negative impact on many devolved responsibilities in Scotland, cutting across anti poverty policy, housing and homelessness policy and disabled peoples right to independent living, to name but a few. In advance of the vote on the Legislative Consent Motion we are urging members of all political parties to carefully consider the potential impact of the Bill and whether, they can support its implementation, as it stands, in Scotland."

ends

 

For further information, contact Press and Public Affairs Manager Claire Munro on t: 0141 567 6244 m: 07771 926778 or e: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Visit our website at www.sfha.co.uk

NOTES:

1) Independent research commissioned by the SFHA revealed that up to one in five tenants in Scotland will see their incomes fall due to the Coalition Government's Housing Benefit cuts. The research analyses the impacts on different groups of people, and proposes a range of ways of mitigating the most severe impacts which could see some tenants losing hundreds of pounds a year. Read the SFHA's research on the impacts of the proposed changes to Housing Benefit here:
http://www.sfha.co.uk/component/option,com_docman/Itemid,82/gid,1288/task,doc_download/

2) A copy of the SFHA briefing to all MSPs is available on our website at http://www.sfha.co.uk/component/option,com_docman/Itemid,37/gid,251/task,cat_view/

3) For more information about SCoWR, visit www.cpag.org.uk/scotland

4) The SFHA was established in 1975 and has around 170 members providing affordable housing and wider community services in Scotland, as well as a further 200 commercial members. The SFHA is owned by its membership and exists to support the work of housing associations and co-operatives in Scotland by providing services, advice and good practice guidance.

5) The SFHA is the voice of the principal builders and managers of new affordable housing for rent in Scotland. Housing Associations own and manage around 40% of the country's affordable rented housing stock, over a quarter of a million homes across Scotland.

6) Housing associations and co-operatives are not-for-profit bodies regulated by the Scottish Housing Regulator.

 

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