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

Vale of White Horse District Council did not have the information requested.

Dear Vale of White Horse District 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,

Jessica Swain

FOI Vale, Vale of White Horse District Council

Dear Jessica,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information/Environmental Information
Regulation request which was received by Vale of White Horse District
Council on: 23 January 2018
Please accept this email as confirmation that your request has been
received and forwarded to the relevant department and a response will be
sent to you within 20 working days.
The deadline for this will be: 20 February 2018
The reference number for this request is: Vale 17/981
I trust that this email is sufficient to assure you that your request is
being dealt with. However, should you have any queries in the meantime,
please do not hesitate to contact the FOI team at [Vale of White Horse District Council request email]
Regards
FOI Team
 
Policy & Partnerships
Vale of White Horse District Council
 
Direct line: 01235 422371
[1]www.whitehorsedc.gov.uk 

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From: Jessica Swain <[FOI #459296 email]>
Sent: 23 January 2018 15:59
To: FOI Vale
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Evictions and Out-of-Area
Rehousing of Council Tenants affected by Welfare Reform
 
Dear Vale of White Horse District 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,

Jessica Swain

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Tooke, Daniel,

1 Attachment

Hello Jessica

Thank you for the above Freedom of information request.

Vale of White Horse District Council transferred all of it's Social
Housing stock to Sovereign Housing Association (then known as Vale Housing
Association) in 1995, therefore this council doesn't own any Social
Housing properties.

With regard to this fact I am therefore unsure how to answer
the questions in your FOI request.

I would therefore ask that you clarify the information you are requesting
from us.

Your original request will be put on hold until I receive this
clarification, and will be closed in 14 days if we do not receive a
response for you.

Regards

Daniel Tooke
Housing Needs Officer

Direct Dial: 01235 422457

Switchboard: 01235 422422 option 1 then option 3

Text phone users add 18001 before you dial

 

[1]www.southandvale.gov.uk
[2]www.whitehorsehomechoice.org.uk
[3]www.southoxfordshirehomechoice.org.uk

If your e-mail requires an immediate response please contact the Housing
Needs Team on 01235 520202 or e-mail at [email address].
 
South Oxfordshire and Vale of White Horse District Councils
135 Eastern Avenue
Milton Park
Milton
Abingdon
OX14 4SB

[4]1501754221159_Gold

References

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