Welfare Reform FINAL

7/30/2019 Welfare Reform FINAL

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This leaflet will help you find out:- who will be aected

- where youcan go to get helpand advice

Whatyouneedto

knowaboutchanges

tobenefits

Tel: 01633 212 375

a

The UKGovernmentis reducingtheamountofhousingbenefitsomepeoplecanclaimand

ismakingchangestoother benefits.


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If you claim housing benefit to help pay your rent or claim other

welfare benefits, you may be aected by changes from April 2013.

The changes mean that some people will get less housing benefit than

they did before.

We know that many of you will be worried about what this could meanfor you and your family. We want to help you find out whatshappening and what you can do to prepare. This leaflet providesinformation about changes to:

- under-occupying your home (when you have more bedrooms thanyour family needs)

- direct payments- benefit cap

- disability benefit- council tax

howmanybedroomsdoyouhave?

Therulesforunder-occupation willbedierent

under UniversalCredit.SeesectiononUniversal

Creditformoreinformation.

From April 2013, if you live in a council or housing

association home and you have one or more sparebedrooms your housing benefit may be reduced.

This could aect you if:

- you are 16 to 61 years old

- you only receive a small amount of housing

benefit for example, if you are working

- you are sick or disabled.

You wont be aected if:

- you live in a one bedroom flat or bedsit, or if

- you or your partner are old enough to receive

pension credits. In April 2013 the pension credit age

will be around 61 years and 6 months.


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Under the new rules if you have more bedrooms than

the Government says you need, you will lose part of

your housing benefit. The new rules mean you will be

allocated one bedroom for:

- each adult couple

- any other person aged 16 or over

- two children of the same sex under the age of 16

- two children under the age of 10 regardless of

their sex

- any other child

- a carer (who does not normally live with you) ifyou or your partner need overnight care.

It does not matter how the spare bedroom is used,

the new rules will apply even if:

- you and your partner need to sleep apart

because of a medical condition

- your children mainly live somewhere else, but you

have a spare room for when they stay with you.

If you have one spare bedroom your housing benefit will

be cut by 14% of full the rent and service charge on your

property. If you have two or more spare bedrooms, you

will lose 25%. If your benefit is cut you will have to pay

your landlord the dierence between your housing

benefit and your rent.

whatisasparebedroom?

whathappensifyouhaveasparebedroom?


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If you are of working age, have a disability and need a

spare bedroom so that a carer can stay overnight you

should contact your local council now so that sta can

help you keep more of your housing benefit.

mr&mrssmithMr and Mrs Smith live in a two-bedroom flat costing 70per week in rent. At the moment housing benefit covers

the full cost of their rent. Under the new rules they will

have one spare bedroom. Their housing benefit will be

reduced by 14% of their rent (14% of 70 = 9.80) Their

housing benefit will be reduced by 9.80 to 60.20 perweek. They will have to pay 9.80 per week towards their

rent.

Mr and Mrs Bell live with their two teenage boys, aged 13

and 15, in a three bedroom house. Their rent is 100 per

week and they receive 10 per week in housing benefit.

Under the new rules their children will be expected to sharea bedroom and so they will be treated as having one spare

bedroom. Their housing benefit will be reduced by 14% of

100 (14), and so they will lose all their housing benefit.

mr&mrsbell

mr&mrssmith

doyou have a disability andneedovernight care?


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whatshouldyoudoifyouareunder-occupying?

If you are worried about being able to aord to pay yourrent from April 2013 you should ask for advice now. Ifyou dont pay your rent you could lose your home, so

talk to Charter about dierent ways to pay.

You can also:

- Talk to Charter about transferring to a smaller homeor taking in a lodger.

- Contact your council to ask about extra financialhelp. Councils have a limited amount of moneyavailable to make discretionary payments towardshousing costs. Your council may prioritise yourclaim if you have a disability and your house hasbeen adapted.

- get in touch with your local citizens advicebureau (www.citizensadvice.org.uk) or other localadvice agencies.

- make sure you are claiming all the benefits you can,for example, money to help with the costs of a

disability.- try to find some paid work to increase your

income.

The rules for under-occupancy under Universal Credit will

be slightly dierent. Under this new benefit, the rules for

having a spare bedroom will apply unless both members of

a couple are over pension age. Under the existing Housing

Benefit system, only one member of a couple needs to be

over pension age for under-occupation not to apply.

under-occupyingyourhomeunderuniversalcredit


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From October 2013 the Government is changing thebenefits system. A number of benefits will be replacedto make the system simpler.

The new benefit will be called Universal Credit and onlyone payment for all of your benefits, including yourHousing Benefit, will be made.

You will no longer be allowed to have your HousingBenefit paid direct to your landlord. The Government isdoing this as it wants people to manage money forthemselves.

You will receive a monthly payment, in arrears, so it isimportant that you budget for your money to last thewhole month.

This also means that from the date that you start toreceive Universal Credit, you will be responsible forpaying your own rent.

You will need to make sure that you pay your rent everymonth when you receive your payment of UniversalCredit; if you do not pay your rent you risk losing yourhome.

If you want to discuss dierent ways that you can payyour rent, please contact a member of the Rent andFinancial Solutions Team.

It would also be better if you didnt pay your rent inarrears at the end of the month.

You might like to start putting a small amount of moneyaway now so that you are not faced with a large amountto pay when you change to Universal Credit. You couldstart to make payments of 4 monthly or 1 weekly toyour rent account.

universal credit and payments direct toyou


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whowill beaectedandwhen?

Who? Households of working age who claim in-work or outof work benefits. These include Income Support, IncomeBased Job Seekers Allowance or Employment and Support

Allowance, Housing Benefit, Child Tax Credit and WorkingTax Credit.

When? All new claims from October 2013. Existing claimswill be moved over between October 2013 and October2017.

From April 2013, the overall amount of benefit you canreceive will be capped.

The Government will add up how much money you getfrom a range of benefits, including: housing benefit,

jobseekers allowance, income support, employment

support allowance, child benefit, child tax credit andcarers allowance.

If the total comes to more than the maximum amountallowed your housing benefit payments will be reduced.

The maximum amount of benefit you will be able toreceive from April 2013 will be:- 500 per week for single parents

- 500 per week for couples with or withoutchildren

- 350 per week for single people without children.

This will not apply to you if:

- you get pension credit or working tax credit- a member of your household is claiming disability

living allowance, attendance allowance, industrialinjuries benefits or the support element of

employment support allowance.

limitonbenefits


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personal independencepayment

The new Personal Independence Payment (PIP) willreplace Disability Living Allowance (DLA). This newbenefit is designed to provide similar help to peoplewith disabilities but it will be easier to understand.There will be regular reviews for people in receipt of PIPto make sure that they are assessed on their currentneeds.

PIP will be assessed across the entire day. It has twoparts: Daily Living and Mobility and each has tworates: Standard and Enhanced.

The decision on an award will be made by a DecisionMaker based on information from a medically qualifiedperson.

qualifying for personal independence payment

To qualify for PIP, you must:

- be of working age (16-64)

- have had a disability for three months prior to yourapplication and be expected to continue to have thatdisability for at least nine months after

- past residence and presence tests (you must havethe right to remain in the UK and not be living abroadfor more than 12 weeks of the year)

Who will be eected and when:

The new benefit will be introduced in phases.

- From June 2013 all new claims will be assessed usingthe PIP rules.

- In Autumn 2013, any reviews and changes ofcircumstances relating to existing DLA claims will beassessed using the PIP rules.

- The Department for Work and Pensions intends toreassess all DLA claims starting early 2014 and hopesto finish by 2016.


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Council Tax Benefit is changing. From April 2013 more

people will have to pay towards their Council Tax. As part

of its plan to reform the welfare system the UK

Government has cut the funding for Council Tax supportavailable to local authorities. In addition it has asked local

authorities to devise their own schemes for paying the

benefit. The Welsh Government is working on the detail

with local authorities (including Newport, Torfaen and

Monmouthshire). The Council will write to you as soon as

they have more information (this is not likely to be until

early December).

changestocouncil taxbenefits


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Charter is keen to visit you to talk through issues thatmight be of concern, so please get in touch.

Please call us on: 01633 212 375or visit: www.chaterhousing.co.uk

Alternatively, you can talk to your:

- local council- citizens advice bureau

-local advice agency

dontpanic

wecanhelp

- Get more information about the cap on benefits by

calling the Governments information line on0845 605 7064.

formoreinformation

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Welfare Reform FINAL