Anyone living in the UK who is a citizen of a European Union country (excluding the Irish republic) must apply for European Union Settled Status by June 30th if they want to continue to access a whole range of benefits and services. That includes Housing Benefit.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have just produced an estimate that despite the deadline to apply the scheme being almost on top of us, there are at least 11,000 people claiming Housing Benefit who still haven’t made their applications. That’s despite a massive advertising campaign, including TV, radio, the press and social media. How those 11,000 people are distributed across the country, I don’t know, but I’m willing to guess that some of them are living in Sandwell. Perhaps one of them is your tenant? So this is a landlord issue too.The government have recently brought in some new rules about making and accepting late applications – and how to help people who are late. But the safest thing by far is to avoid the complexities and risks of missing the deadline.
Quite simply, anyone affected by these rules who hasn’t yet applied – (and please excuse me, I know that shouty capital letters are bad writing) SHOULD GET THEIR APPLICATION IN NOW!
If you know anyone, whether it’s your tenant, employee, colleague, friend or neighbour who might need to apply, please make sure they do so. The link is below.
A reminder; don’t forget, wherever your tenant is from, the government’s ‘right to rent’ rules mean that landlords have a legal responsibility to hold documentary evidence documentary evidence that their tenant is legally entitled to live in the UK, for all periods of that tenancy, not just at its beginning.
Landlords should also be aware that the rules for citizens of European Union countries are now changing which could have an impact on their tenant’s right to rent status. BREXIT means that people from EU member nations no longer have an automatic right to reside in the UK. Anyone who is an EU national and who wants to reside in the UK must now ensure that they have registered correctly under the EU Settlement Scheme. More details are available here. https://www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens-families
Although this is the tenant’s responsibility and not the landlords – it will become the landlord’s problem if a tenant fails to register correctly and no longer has a legal right to live here. If you become aware that a tenant you let your property to lawfully is no longer entitled to be in the UK – don’t ignore the situation. Please refer to this government guide on what action you should take
Every local authority has long-term empty properties in its area. That can be a problem for everyone: as it affects the community as empty buildings often attract anti-social behaviour; it affects the immediate neighbours, as the street’s appearance is affected or weather damage spreads next-door and the council who will want every potential home giving someone a roof.
Owners can face serious financial consequences. Houses need people in them. Occupiers guard against neglect, the elements and damage from problems like vandalism. Leave a house empty, especially in winter and its state of repair will deteriorate, sometimes badly. The longer you leave it – the bigger the risks. Empty homes are also a terrible waste of an essential resource, both for people who need homes and for the owners too who are denying themselves a source of income or a substantial amount of capital.
A further disincentive to owners from keeping a property empty is the enhanced Council Tax charges they are liable for. From April 2021, these have been adjusted again as follows.
These additional charges should act as further encouragement for an owner to make the best use of their asset and provide a home for someone who needs it.
Changes in the law last year prevented most new migrants from Europe being able to claim Housing Benefit or Job Seekers Allowance. However, an important exception was given for people who were already claiming benefits on the date that the changes came in. Although new arrivals could no longer make claims, people who were receiving Housing Benefit and JSA on the 31st March 2015 were generally protected and could continue to claim. In November last year though, the government brought in a further restriction. People in this protected group had to prove they had a realistic prospect of actually finding work if they were to continue to receive benefits. Although this rule has been in place for some time, it has been implemented slowly. We are now seeing affected claimants in Sandwell being asked to attend interviews where if they fail to convince the Job Centre that they are likely to soon be in ‘genuine and effective’ employment,’ their benefits including Housing Benefit will stop. Landlords (and advice workers) should be aware that this process is taking place now and that some well established tenants who have relied on Housing Benefit up to now, will no longer qualify. As usual, this post is only a very brief summary of some quite complex rules. More information is available on gov.uk.
Last April saw major rule changes which stopped most people from the European Economic Area,’ (EEA) from claiming Housing Benefit. We are still getting queries from landlords and tenants about these.
Some of the main points are set out below, but this is a complex area and this post is certainly not intended as a full guide. There are links to the appropriate pages on the main government website gov.uk and the Department of Work and pensions where necessary. The important thing is that if anyone is any doubt before accepting or offering a tenancy, they get the right advice first.
The EEA includes all European Union countries, plus some non-member countries. If in doubt, check this list. Although Ireland is in the EEA, different rulesapply to Irish citizens who normally have the same rights as UK citizens.
Most unemployed EEA nationals making new claims from the 1st April 2014 onwards are not entitled to Housing Benefit.
EEA nationals who work (including the self-employed) and have earnings of at least £154 per week and have done so for the previous 3 months can normally still claim Housing Benefit. A full explanation of these rules is here.
An EEA national who works but gets made redundant may sometimes still be eligible for Housing Benefit although this is not automatic.
An EEA national who was already receiving Housing Benefit on the 31st March 2014 will continue to receive it, but if their claim stops and they re-apply, they may be refused, as they are making a new claim.
If someone changes address within the same borough and reapplies immediately so that their claim is continuous; they can continue to claim, but if they move from one local authority to another, it is considered as a new claim and if they are not covered by an exemption, they can be refused Housing Benefit.
There is no connection between the Home Office ‘Right to Rent’ rules and benefit rules. Right to Rent is simply about whether someone is legally in the UK and has nothing to do with benefits.
The old connection between benefits like Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) and Housing Benefit where being entitled to JSA meant that as long as you paid rent you were normally entitled to Housing Benefit no longer exists. EEA migrants can still get JSA without being entitled to Housing Benefit.
There is no link between entitlement to tax credits and Housing Benefit. Being entitled to Tax Credits does not mean you are entitled to Housing Benefit.
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