Housing benefits
This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on housing benefits. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.
Standard Notes
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 20.04.2012 | The Household Benefit Cap |
| This note explains how the household benefit cap will operate and summarises reactions to it, including attempts to amend the benefit cap as the Welfare Reform Act progressed through Parliament. | |
| 12.04.2012 | Housing Benefit: Size Criteria and Discretionary Housing Payments |
| This note explains issues around the application of the size criteria in regard to Housing Benefit applications in the private rented sector. | |
| 05.04.2012 | Paying Housing Benefit direct to tenants in social rented housing |
| This note explains the Government's intention that social housing tenants in receipt of assistance with their housing costs should take responsibility for passing this assistance to their landlords when Universal Credit is phased in from October 2013. | |
| 04.04.2012 | Paying Local Housing Allowance direct to tenants in private rented housing |
| This note explains the requirement to pay Local Housing Allowance direct to most tenants in the deregulated private rented sector since 7 April 2008. | |
| 02.04.2012 | Measures to reduce Housing Benefit expenditure - an overview |
| This note outlines all the measures aimed at reducing Housing Benefit expenditure set out in the June 2010 Budget and the October 2010 Spending Review, together with comment and an assessment of the impact of those measures. |
Research Papers
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 16.05.2012 | Local Government Finance Bill 2012-13 |
| This paper summarises the Second Reading and Committee of the Whole House stages of the Local Government Finance Bill 2010-12, which has been carried over into the 2012-13 session. Library Research Paper 12/01, Local Government Finance Bill 2010-12, published for Second Reading on 10 January 2012 in the 2010-12 session, is relevant. | |
| 05.01.2012 | Local Government Finance Bill 2010-12 |
| This Research Paper has been prepared for the second reading of the Local Government Finance Bill 2010-12. The Local Government Finance Bill has been carried over into the 2012-13 session as Bill 4 of 2012/13. The Bill had completed its Committee Stage before the end of the 2010-12 Session and will have its remaining stages on 21 May 2012. Research Paper 12/14 considers the proceedings on the Bill before it was carried over. | |
| 08.06.2011 | Welfare Reform Bill: Committee Stage Report |
| This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Welfare Reform Bill. It complements Research Papers 11/23 and 11/24, prepared for the Commons Second Reading debate. | |
| 07.03.2011 | Welfare Reform Bill: Universal Credit provisions |
| The Welfare Reform Bill provides for the introduction of a 'Universal Credit' to replace a range of existing means-tested benefits and tax credits for people of working age, starting from 2013. The Bill follows the November 2010 White Paper, Universal Credit: welfare that works, which set out the Government's proposals for reforming welfare to improve work incentives, simplify the benefits system and tackle administrative complexity. | |
| 04.03.2011 | Welfare Reform Bill: reform of disability benefits, Housing Benefit, and other measures |
| This paper has been prepared for the Second Reading debate in the House of Commons. For information on the provision in the Bill relating to the introduction of Universal Credit, please see the complementary Library Research Paper, 11/24. Besides Universal Credit, the Bill proposes a number of other significant welfare reforms, including replacement of the current Disability Living Allowance, restriction of Housing Benefit entitlement to social housing tenants whose accommodation is larger than they need, time-limiting the payment of contributory Employment and Support Allowance to twelve months, and capping the total amount of benefit that can be claimed. |
Select Committee Reports
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 15.12.2010 | Changes to housing benefit announced in the June 2010 Budget. |
| Work and Pensions Select Committee report [Commons] | |
| 13.10.2010 | Local housing allowance. |
| Government response. Work and Pensions Select Committee; Department for Work and Pensions report [Commons] | |
| 22.03.2010 | Local housing allowance. |
| Work and Pensions Select Committee report [Commons] |
Early Day Motions
| Date | Description |
|---|---|
| 01.02.2011 | SECURE TENANCIES, LEVELS OF RENT AND HOUSING BENEFITS |
| That this House is concerned that proposals for new fixed-term tenancies for council and housing association tenants, and up to 80 per cent. of market rents for new housing association ... | |
| 19.01.2011 | HOUSING BENEFIT AND LONG-TERM UNEMPLOYMENT |
| That this House notes that the Office of Budget Responsibility forecasts 1.36 million people will be claiming jobseeker's allowance at the start of 2013; further notes that in areas ... | |
| 13.12.2010 | JOBSEEKERS AND HOUSING BENEFIT |
| That this House notes that the Office of Budget Responsibility forecasts 1.36 million people will be claiming jobseeker's allowance at the start of 2013; further notes that in areas ... | |
| 02.12.2010 | HOUSING (S.I., 2010, No. 2836) |
| That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that theRent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Amendment Order 2010 (S.I., 2010, No. 2836), dated 24 November 2010, a ... | |
| 02.12.2010 | SOCIAL SECURITY (S.I., 2010, No. 2835) |
| That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2010 (S.I., 2010, No. 2835), dated 24 November 2010, a copy of which was ... |
