Evictions and Out-of-Area Rehousing of Council Tenants affected by Welfare Reform

Isle of Wight Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Isle of Wight Council,

I am seeking information about the potential impact of central government welfare reform policies on eviction rates and geographical displacement of households with council housing tenancies. My information request relates to three welfare reform policies:

- Under-Occupancy (also known as Removal of Spare Room Subsidy / Bedroom Tax)

- The Benefit Cap

- Universal Credit roll-out

I understand that under Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 there is a duty to assist and advise the requester. I would appreciate your advice if you think my request needs any clarification in order to get the information that I am looking for, or if it would exceed the cost limit in its present form.

1. Please provide an annual breakdown since April 2010 of the total number of unique council tenancies - including the total number of people recorded as living in them - that have been evicted due to the non-payment of rent arrears.

2. For each year of this annual breakdown since April 2013, please disclose how many of these evicted households - including the total number of people recorded as living in them - had at some point been affected by:

a. Under-occupancy

b. Under-occupancy and the Benefit Cap

c. Under-occupancy and the Benefit Cap and Universal Credit roll-out

3. How many of the evicted households affected by a, b, or c - including the total number of people recorded as living in them - went on to make a successful homelessness application to the local authority?

4. Of these successful homeless applications, please disclose how many households - including the total number of people recorded as living in them - were placed in temporary accommodation in a different local authority area and disclose the destination local authority area in each case.

Yours faithfully,

EIJones

Barnes, Alan, Isle of Wight Council

1 Attachment

Dear E L Jones

 

Re: Information Request CRM Ref. iw18/1/26164

 

Thank you for your request for information received on 23 January 2018 as
below. This request has been handled under the Freedom of Information Act
2000.

 

I am seeking information about the potential impact of central government
welfare reform policies on eviction rates and geographical displacement of
households with council housing tenancies. My information request relates
to three welfare reform policies:

 

- Under-Occupancy (also known as Removal of Spare Room Subsidy / Bedroom
Tax)

 

- The Benefit Cap

 

- Universal Credit roll-out

 

I understand that under Section 16 of the Freedom of Information Act 2000
there is a duty to assist and advise the requester. I would appreciate
your advice if you think my request needs any clarification in order to
get the information that I am looking for, or if it would exceed the cost
limit in its present form.

 

1. Please provide an annual breakdown since April 2010 of the total number
of unique council tenancies - including the total number of people
recorded as living in them - that have been evicted due to the non-payment
of rent arrears.

 

2. For each year of this annual breakdown since April 2013, please
disclose how many of these evicted households - including the total number
of people recorded as living in them - had at some point been affected by:

 

a. Under-occupancy

 

b. Under-occupancy and the Benefit Cap

 

c. Under-occupancy and the Benefit Cap and Universal Credit roll-out

 

3. How many of the evicted households affected by a, b, or c - including
the total number of people recorded as living in them - went on to make a
successful homelessness application to the local authority?

 

4. Of these successful homeless applications, please disclose how many
households - including the total number of people recorded as living in
them - were placed in temporary accommodation in a different local
authority area and disclose the destination local authority area in each
case.  

 

I am writing to inform you that we have searched our records but
unfortunately the information you requested is not held by the Isle of
Wight Council. The Council is not a stock holding authority and I suggest
you contact the Housing Associations listed on the attachment to seek the
information you desire.

 

If you have any complaints in respect of your information request, please
write to the Corporate Information Unit, County Hall, Newport, Isle of
Wight, PO30 1EW, by email to [Isle of Wight Council request email], or complete the
on-line appeals form that can be found at www.iwight.com. If your
complaint is not resolved to your satisfaction, you have the ultimate
right, once you have exhausted the internal appeals process, to appeal to
the Information Commissioner.

 

Yours sincerely

 

Alan Barnes MRICS | Commissioner of Housing Renewal | Planning and Housing
Services

Isle of Wight Council | County Hall, High Street | Newport | Isle of Wight
| PO30 1UD

Tel: (01983) 821000 ext:6910 or (01983) 823040 | Fax: (01983) 823050

Email: [email address]| Web: www.iwight.com

 

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for any inconvenience caused.

 

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