Important information for Housing Benefit claimaints - public for linking/propogating
I do not wish to spread alarm or depress people, although this is the likely result.
But have just had a very useful chat with someone who is v.informed about housing benefit and likely Big Society plans as they affect people on HB and benefits like incapacity, DLA etc. And I want to share this stuff around so people can think about it.
The message was 'do you want to spend your energies in the next year fighting to retain benefits that *will* be cut and cut until life on them isn't sustainable with any quality of life? You need to prepare for this':
-by saving money in advance of 20% cuts which will happen
-by making the large amount of work you *do* do look shiny in terms of Big Society priorities, and keeping Job Seekers people off your back when, not if that starts happening.
-by planning and making decisions on what you might be able toi compromise on eg living with people, working, where you live - and working out what you can't compromise on to be ok.
-by other means, possibly looking for alternate ways/places of living/ways out of the system before it becomes hideous and untenable.
Obviously, this is just one viewpoint, but I put it out so that those of us who are vulnerable can be thinking about this stuff.
ETA: I should also point out that this advice was partly specifically to my specific circumstances (given by someone whose concern and care for me are really touching and wonderuful), as a person who lives alone (in this instance things might be much more doable for families/people with shared living costs etc), in a very expensive housing area/somewhere where HB is a vast chunk of a local authority budget. YMMV, obviously.
This briefing paper shows the timetable for changes. (more here)
"The Department's impact assessment for the first set of changes (i.e. those that can be implemented by regulations without the need for primary legislation) is expected to be published on the 23 July 2010. The impact assessment will be published on the Social Security Advisory Committee website http://www.ssac.org.uk/ "
More on this, from a friends' commentary on FB seriously, if you're on HB and you only read one bit, make it this bit:
"these docs are aimed at housing practitioners, so sorry for the institutional language, but they are clear and accurate summaries of the changes as they are currently planned. Very swiftly, the changes are as follows: LHA to be calculated using the bottom 30% of rents; HB to be cut by 10% per claimant after 1 year on JSA; and HB to be capped at a maximum rate which will make most urban areas in the South East unaffordable for those on low incomes. There is consequently likely to be widespread movement of low-income households out of London towards the Sussex coast.
Please note, these changes begin to take effect from October this year, and the majority of the cuts start in April 2011, at the same time that the new requirements for DLA medical assessments come in. This stuff is happening, very quickly The Conservatives see LHA as artificially inflating the rental market and are keen to make life on benefits a vastly less attractive 'lifestyle' than any form of work - it's important to recognise and prepare for these changes (as well as to resist them by every possible means)."
But have just had a very useful chat with someone who is v.informed about housing benefit and likely Big Society plans as they affect people on HB and benefits like incapacity, DLA etc. And I want to share this stuff around so people can think about it.
The message was 'do you want to spend your energies in the next year fighting to retain benefits that *will* be cut and cut until life on them isn't sustainable with any quality of life? You need to prepare for this':
-by saving money in advance of 20% cuts which will happen
-by making the large amount of work you *do* do look shiny in terms of Big Society priorities, and keeping Job Seekers people off your back when, not if that starts happening.
-by planning and making decisions on what you might be able toi compromise on eg living with people, working, where you live - and working out what you can't compromise on to be ok.
-by other means, possibly looking for alternate ways/places of living/ways out of the system before it becomes hideous and untenable.
Obviously, this is just one viewpoint, but I put it out so that those of us who are vulnerable can be thinking about this stuff.
ETA: I should also point out that this advice was partly specifically to my specific circumstances (given by someone whose concern and care for me are really touching and wonderuful), as a person who lives alone (in this instance things might be much more doable for families/people with shared living costs etc), in a very expensive housing area/somewhere where HB is a vast chunk of a local authority budget. YMMV, obviously.
This briefing paper shows the timetable for changes. (more here)
"The Department's impact assessment for the first set of changes (i.e. those that can be implemented by regulations without the need for primary legislation) is expected to be published on the 23 July 2010. The impact assessment will be published on the Social Security Advisory Committee website http://www.ssac.org.uk/ "
More on this, from a friends' commentary on FB seriously, if you're on HB and you only read one bit, make it this bit:
"these docs are aimed at housing practitioners, so sorry for the institutional language, but they are clear and accurate summaries of the changes as they are currently planned. Very swiftly, the changes are as follows: LHA to be calculated using the bottom 30% of rents; HB to be cut by 10% per claimant after 1 year on JSA; and HB to be capped at a maximum rate which will make most urban areas in the South East unaffordable for those on low incomes. There is consequently likely to be widespread movement of low-income households out of London towards the Sussex coast.
Please note, these changes begin to take effect from October this year, and the majority of the cuts start in April 2011, at the same time that the new requirements for DLA medical assessments come in. This stuff is happening, very quickly The Conservatives see LHA as artificially inflating the rental market and are keen to make life on benefits a vastly less attractive 'lifestyle' than any form of work - it's important to recognise and prepare for these changes (as well as to resist them by every possible means)."