Evictions and Out-of-Area Rehousing of Council Tenants affected by Welfare Reform
Dear Poole Borough 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,
Alex Morison
Dear Mr Morison
Further to your request for information, please find our response below:
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
The response to these two questions is contained in the attached
spreadsheet.
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?
11 Homeless applications made of which 3 were accepted.
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.
3 households consisting of 5 persons. None were placed in a different
local authority area - all accommodation was in the Borough of Poole.
Yours sincerely,
Lynda Anderson I Performance and Quality Manager
Housing and Community Services
Borough of Poole I Civic Centre I Poole BH15 2RU
Tel: 01202 633027
Email: [email address]
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