Council sets up helpline for housing benefit changes

Harlow Council is advising housing benefit claimants of major changes in the payments system, which could have far reaching implications for new tenants of private rented accommodation.

As part of the Government’s Welfare to Work reforms, housing benefit is changing and from 7^th April 2008, a new scheme called the Local Housing Allowance is being introduced.

Local Housing Allowance is a new way of working out housing benefit claims for tenants who are renting accommodation from a private landlord - but it will NOT affect Council or housing association tenants.

The new allowance gives private tenants more choice in where they live and is designed to be fairer.

Joint Council Leader and Chair of the Council’s Policy & Resources Committee, Tony Durcan, said: “Like most Government changes, understanding how the rules apply to individuals can be complicated. Our advice is to get in touch with the Council if you believe the changes might apply to you and our team of experts will be happy to talk you through it.”

Under the new rules:

· Local Housing Allowance recipients will get the same amount of benefit as people in the same circumstances elsewhere. Under the housing benefit system, people living in smaller or less attractive properties usually get less benefit than people living in larger or more attractive properties.

· Residents can decide how much of their benefit they wish to spend on renting a property. For example, they can choose to pay more to rent a large property, or they can rent a smaller property and keep some of the difference.

· It will be possible to find out how much allowance will be paid before renting a property and decisions will be quicker.

· The allowance will be paid direct to the tenant and it will be the tenant’s responsibility to pay the rent to the landlord in the same way as other residents who do not get benefit.

As part of the changes, the Local Housing Allowance will be paid to tenants via the bank transfer ‘BACS’ system and residents will need a bank account to receive the money.

Harlow Council is working closely with partners such as Harlow Welfare Rights & Advice, the Citizens’ Advice Bureau and the Harlow Private Landlords’ Forum to explain the implications for anyone affected by the reforms. For more information, call the Harlow Council Helpline on 01279 446633 or email them at hdc.benefits@harlow.gov.uk.