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

The request was partially successful.

Dear Bristol City 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,

Sarah Bower

Freedom of Information, Bristol City Council

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No Reply @ Bristol, Bristol City Council

Dear Sarah Bower 
This is a courtesy email to let you know your Public Information
Request has been received on : 24/01/2018. 
Your unique reference number is "CRN00152049 ". Please keep this
number safe, as you may be required to provide it in the future. 
If you need to add further information concerning your case or
require an update about your response date, please email
[email address
Regards,
Customer Relations Team

"No Reply @ Bristol" <noreply@bristol.gov.uk>, Bristol City Council

You sent us a Freedom of Information request on 24/01/2018

Your request number is CRN00152049

We’ve looked at your request and you should receive a reply on or before 21/02/2018 13:15 This will be 20 working days since your original request.

The request

From: Sarah Bower [mailto:[FOI #459397 email]]
Sent: 23 January 2018 16:11
To: Freedom of Information
Subject: Freedom of Information request - Evictions and Out-of-Area Rehousing of Council Tenants affected by Welfare Reform

Dear Bristol City 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,

Sarah Bower

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Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #459397 email]

Additional Information (if any)

If you don’t hear from us by this time please contact [Bristol City Council request email]
Contact details we have for you
Sarah Bower
 [FOI #459397 email]

 

Thanks

Bristol City Council

"No Reply @ Bristol" <noreply@bristol.gov.uk>, Bristol City Council

You sent us a Freedom of Information request on 24/01/2018

Your request number is CRN00152049

Our reply to your request is:  

Financial Year April to March Number of unique council tenants
  evicted for Rent arrears
2010/11 Not available
2011/12 39
2012/13 48
2013/14 57
2014/15 51
2015/16 58
2016/17 59

 
Response for Q1 above
 
Q2 data not collected
 
Q3 data not collected
 
Q4 data not collected 
 
This response should answer your request in full.

If you’re not satisfied with our response, or if you want to appeal
against any exemptions:

Email: [1][Bristol City Council request email]
Write to: Customer Relations (100TS), PO Box 3176, Bristol, BS3 9FS

If you’re still not satisfied with our response:

You can complain to the Information Commissioner. 
Find out how to do this on the Information Commissioner Office
website
 (link to [2]http://ico.org.uk/concerns)

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Thanks

Bristol City Council

References

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1. mailto:[Bristol City Council request email]
2. http://ico.org.uk/concerns