'Tenants facing tough times ahead', warns housing chief

KHT Chief Executive Bob Taylor

Knowsley Housing Trust says it will be working to support its tenants as they cope with changes to housing benefits, rents and tenancies that came into force this month.

As of April 1, the Government introduced many changes including absolute caps for Local Housing Allowance weekly rates, affordable rents at up to 80 per cent of market value and the end of guaranteed ‘lifetime tenancies’.

Bob Taylor, Chief Executive of KHT, said although the old system was in need of overhaul, tenants are likely to face tough times ahead.

"Over the last year we’ve seen and heard the government’s plans for change and for dealing with the spending deficit and it is now starting to hit home,” he said.

"Within the housing sector the first wave of benefit changes has taken effect and will hit thousands of people in both the private and social housing sector.

"It is unlikely that people will really have planned for these changes as after all many are living from week to week on extremely low incomes.

"We will now start to see the ‘fall out’ as people try to adjust. There will be a massive strain on those agencies providing debt advice at a time when grants and support to those agencies has been severely reduced.”

Other measures introduced as of April 1 include:

● Ending the maximum £15 weekly Housing Benefit excess that some customers can receive under the Local Housing Allowance arrangements,

● Removing the five bedroom Local Housing Allowance rate so that the maximum level is for a four bedroom property

● Reducing all Local Housing Allowance rates so that about 3 in 10 properties for rent in the area should be affordable to people on Housing Benefit rather than every 5 in 10 properties as now,

● Introduction of New Homes Bonus scheme to incentivise councils to build – the Government will match the council tax collected on new homes for the first six years.

Bob added: "We all know we’re in challenging times and I think deep down most would agree the previous systems could have done with an overhaul.

"Our short term challenges are to support as much as we can those people making the transition under the new arrangements to be living in the right places for them and to be able to work through and manage their finances.

"KHT will be working to provide the right homes in the right places and a range of tenures to suit what people want and can afford."