Newsletter from Revenues and Benefits

We’ve just released our Spring Revenues and Benefits newsletter. This looks at how the COVID-19 crisis is affecting issues we deal with, such as Benefits, Council Tax, Business Rates and some aspects of housing. It’s not specifically aimed at landlords but some of the content is on landlord issues. I hope you find it useful.

The newsletter is shown at https://sandwelllandlords.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/revenues-and-benefits-newsletter-spring-2020-3.pdf

Oliver

A triple blog

The first rule of good blogging is to keep it snappy, which goes out of the window here. But there’s a lot of important information we need to share. This post covers three topics:

• New Local Housing Allowance rates
• The Coronavirus: Urgent repairs and landlord responsibilities
• Universal Credit and your tenants in the lockdown.

These are all important.

LHA rates from 1^st April 2020

New LHA rates are now in effect from 1st April and there are quite a few changes. Just a couple of reminders though:

• Just because you (as a landlord) are letting out a property of a specific size – it doesn’t mean that the tenant’s benefit will be the same amount as the LHA rate for that size accommodation. Their benefit award will depend on their exact circumstances with their income, capital and household make-up all taken into account as well as the size of accommodation that the regulations  consider someone needs for their household. If their accommodation is larger than the rules allow, their benefit will be restricted accordingly.
• The LHA rates are also used as the basis for the calculation of the housing cost element of Universal Credit (UC) – If you are giving a new tenancy to a claimant who receives UC, although they will have to budget themselves for paying their rent out of their total UC income – you might want to consider the LHA figures when deciding what rent to charge. (Obviously – landlords are free to offer tenancies at whatever rent they see fit, as long as they can find tenants who agrees to take the tenancy). But tenants on UC do need to be aware of the maximum amount of support they might get towards their housing.
• Landlords who receive direct payments of Housing Benefit are paid on a four weekly cycle. So regular payments will be four times the weekly amount. Obviously – this is slightly less than the amount for a calendar month but of course this evens out over the course of a year.
• Don’t forget that virtually all people (with certain limited exceptions) who need to make new claims for help with their rent, should apply for Universal Credit and not Housing Benefit.

These are the new rates

Apologies for the poor quality of the graphic. If you would like a copy of our full LHA rates poster on a PDF – please email me at oliver_wright@sandwell.gov.uk and I will be happy to send you one.

Repairs and safety during the lockdown.

Obviously, landlords will be avoiding unnecessary visits to properties or face-to-face contact with tenants during the lockdown. However, the government has been keen to stress that landlords still have responsibilities towards tenant safety.

A few days ago we linked on the blog to the government publication which dealt with a list of issues for tenants and landlords to consider during the crisis. The focus of that blog post was rent payments and evictions. I didn’t point out that the publication also covered very important issues around tenant safety. (Apologies for this – but we have been trying to pick out information from all sorts of places and put it out as quickly as possible).

In the “Property access and health and safety obligations” section of the publication, there is information on (along with other topics)

• Landlord rights of access during the lockdown
• Emergency repairs such as boilers etc
• The general situation with repairs obligations
• Landlord obligations on gas and electrical safety checks during the lockdown
• Risks to landlords of actually catching the virus in the course of their work as landlords
• The virus in Houses in Multiple occupation and landlord obligations to tenants.

Overall, it’s a very useful publication. It’s not only comprehensive but also clear and to the point. And just to emphasise if you missed our earlier blog on landlords and Corona Virus, it also covers the key issues of evictions, ending tenancies and rent payments during the crisis. Here’s the link again

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-and-renting-guidance-for-landlords- tenants-and-local-authorities

Your tenants and money: Universal Credit during the lockdown.

In the lockdown, many people are making new claims for Universal Credit. Either for the first time, or submitting re-claims. Obviously, for landlords, this might have crucial implications about whether or not tenants can pay their rent.

The Department for Work and Pensions are doing what they can to make it as easy and as safe for people to either make a new claim or continue with an existing claim in the current difficult circumstances. The face-to-face aspects of the claim process have been eliminated, as have most requirements about being able to show that you are actively seeking employment. As at the risk of stating the obvious, many people, however good their intentions might be, are not in a realistic position to find a new job.

The government website https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk  states

“People receiving benefits do not have to attend Job Centre appointments for three months, starting from Thursday 19 March 2020. People will continue to receive their benefits as normal, but all requirements to attend the Job Centre in person are suspended.

Don’t attend the Job Centre unless directed to do so for an exceptional purpose. People can still make applications for benefits online if eligible. If you apply for Universal Credit you need an appointment for your new claim interview. This will take place by telephone with a work coach. You will be given a number to call to book the appointment when you submit your claim. If you’re already claiming Universal Credit and think you may have been affected by coronavirus, contact your work coach as soon as possible. Do this on your online journal”

So you can see that the DWP are taking customer safety very seriously and the right steps are being taken to make sure people can continue to get the help they need. Obviously, it’s not your responsibility as a landlord to make sure your tenant is dealing with their benefit claims properly, but equally obviously, it’s in your best interest to know that they are getting all the financial support they can, which will mean they are far less likely to go into arrears.

So with that in mind, my colleagues in our local DWP have also asked me to pass on the following points: if you get the chance to pass them on in turn to tenants . . . please do!

1. For the latest update on Universal Credit please see: https://www.understandinguniversalcredit.gov.uk/coronavirus/
2. Job centres will be closed to all but the vulnerable cases and for transactions, which can’t be completed through any other channel in order to receive timely payment.
3. Inside Job Centres, strict social distancing measures will be in place.
4. Signs will be placed in windows asking everyone to claim online and / or over the phone.
5. A number will be provided for those who want to speak to a colleague in the Job Centre.
6. customers will be sign posted to local support services where necessary
7. Applications for UC should be made on online; it’s a straightforward process and you can do it on a PC, tablet or laptop.
8. Once a claim is registered, then customers can contact DWP through their Journal.
9. Job Centres are not conducting face to face Identity interviews for New Claims. Instead of face to face interviews, Job Centre staff are calling customers to conduct Identity interviews by phone. This means that customers should answer their phones, even if they do not recognise the number (private, withheld or 0800…).
10. If the customer has any concerns on a delay, please advise the customer to request a call back on their Journal and we will conduct the customer by phone.
11. The message remains the same – quickest, most effective method to contact DWP is through the Journal.  All queries will be answered.
12. There are a range of useful videos on Universal Credit, including on how to apply for UC that can be found on: www.youtube.com/channel/UC7Km4IXfVJB1n8SQUmkJD0Q

Probably, the most important piece of financial advice though, is that anyone needing help, from whatever source should ask for it without delay. If you want to claim Universal Credit or any other type of benefit, put your online claim in as soon as you can. Different benefits will have their own rules, but in general, they will only be backdated under exceptional circumstances.

We will post more information on how the crisis is affecting housing and benefit issues as and when it becomes available.

Oliver

Local Housing Allowance rates from April 2019 – Some increases in maximum amounts of Housing Benefit that can be paid And . . . Sandwell’s Fostering Service

We have just produced a poster of these years LHA rates. There are increases from the 2018 rates for three of the accommodation sizes. You can download the poster on a PDF using the link below:

LHA rates April 2019

 

Don’t forget of course that the LHA rate is the maximum amount we will pay for a claimant in each size of accommodation. It is not necessarily the amount we will pay after we have applied all the normal rules in calculating someone’s entitlement.

 
On a completely separate subject; with only very rare exceptions we won’t post on the blog about subjects that aren’t directly concerned with housing, landlord or benefit issues. The blog is after all for a specific purpose – but there’s the odd subject I’ll break the rule for. I’m happy to do that here as this is for some of Sandwell’s most vulnerable children. Please see the poster below from my colleagues in the Sandwell’s Children’s Trust.

It’s too late for the first event which was in March – but there are two other events coming up. If you think you might be interested in fostering, please do give it some thought. You’ll find more information on the Sandwell Fostering Facebook page.

 
Oliver

Local Housing Allowance

Benefits rates poster

You might have seen that we posted the Local Housing Allowance rates for 2015 last week although it was just on a screen shot taken from the Valuations Agency website. You can now download a pdf poster of the 2015 rates LHA rates from April 2015. pdf

Just in case you have trouble with PDFs, I’ve also put the figures below.

Oliver

Birmingham BRMA

Shared Accommodation Rate: £57.34 per week

One Bedroom Rate: £98.87 per week

Two Bedrooms Rate:£120.29 per week

Three Bedrooms Rate:£132.00 per week

Four Bedrooms Rate:£173.41 per week

Black Country BRMA

Shared Accommodation Rate:£60.00 per week

One Bedroom Rate:£86.30 per week – Two Bedrooms Rate:

£104.89 per week

Three Bedrooms Rate:£120.29 per week

Four Bedrooms Rate:£151.50 per week