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

The request was partially successful.

Dear East Devon 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,

Andrew Dodson

East Devon District Council

Thank you for submitting a request for information. We will respond to your request as quickly as possible, within the 20 working day statutory deadline under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

For updates on this case, please quote your unique reference number 101000795480 .

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FOI EDDC, East Devon District Council

Dear Mr Dodson,

 

Thank you for your request for information. Please find the response to
your query below.

 

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

 

 

+---------------------------------------------------------+
|  |2011/12|2012/13|2013/14|2014/15|2015/16|2016/17|
|---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
|Number | No | 4242| 4241| 4184| 4188| 4156|
|Tenancies|data | | | | | |
|---------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------+-------|
|Number | 10| 5| 3| 12| 1| 5|
|Evictions| | | | | | |
+---------------------------------------------------------+

 

 

1. Please provide an annual breakdown since April 2010 of the total number
of unique council tenancies – See table above

- Including the total number of people recorded as living in them – This
information is not available

- That have been evicted due to the non-payment of rent arrears – See
table above

 

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 – This
information is not available

 

- Had at some point been affected by:

 

a. Under-occupancy – None

 

b. Under-occupancy and the Benefit Cap – None

 

c. Under-occupancy and the Benefit Cap and Universal Credit roll-out –
None

 

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? - None

 

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 - None

 

 

I hope this information is helpful but, if you feel dissatisfied with the
way we have responded to your request, please contact our Monitoring
Officer, Mr Henry Gordon Lennox, to request an internal review
[1][email address]

 

You may also approach the Information Commissioner for advice at
[2]www.ico.org.uk

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Sara

 

Ms S Harvey

Information and Complaints Officer

East Devon District Council

 

01395 571659

[3]www.eastdevon.gov.uk

 

Follow us on [4]Facebook and [5]Twitter

[6]Subscribe to your East Devon Update for regular news and information
about what’s happening at East Devon District Council. Choose which topics
you’re interested in to get a personalised update.

[7]Email disclaimer

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