HRABP - Draft 8 - Flipbook - Page 23
The table also projects expected disposals,
acquisitions and new build in the medium
term to 2023/24. The development
programme of new council homes started
in 2016/17 and ‘built-out’ properties are
expected to be below our challenging
target of 100 per year identified in the
East Suffolk Housing Strategy. See below
Section 6 (Investment Programme).
The development of the Lowestoft and
Outer Harbour Area Action Plan is projected
to see new council homes development
from 2020/21. It is expected that the level
of development will increase rapidly after
that period, which should contribute to the
Housing Strategy target for new council
housing.
Additional pressure on rental income was
experienced through the Government’s
‘Removal of Spare Room Subsidy’ which
came into effect in April 2013. Underoccupying households received a cut in
their benefit of between 14% for one extra
bedroom and 25% cut for two or more
extra bedrooms. The table below shows
the numbers of households affected by
the 14% and 25% subsidy removal and the
reduction in numbers affected, which is a
trend we hope will continue to minimise
rent arrears.
7. Welfare Reform Impact
The Welfare Reform Act 2012 presents new
risks to HRA rent collection from tenants.
In 2015 the total benefit cap was reduced
from £26,000 to £20,000 p.a. Universal
Credit (UC) was introduced in Lowestoft in
March 2015, one of the first areas in the
country, and ‘Full Service’ UC started to
be rolled out across the remainder of the
Waveney district in late 2017. The change
for tenants has resulted in a progressive
increase in rent arrears, adversely affecting
the rental revenue stream. This impact
has been experienced by almost all
affected social landlords in England. The
Government made some changes to the
regulations during 2018 to reduce the
impact on tenants which could potentially
reduce the impact on rent arrears in future.
The change for tenants has resulted
in a progressive increase in rent
arrears, adversely affecting the
rental revenue stream. This impact
has been experienced by almost all
affected social landlords in England.
Removal of the
Spare Room
Subsidy
14%
25%
Total
To help alleviate the pressure of this
reduced benefit the Council offers a ‘Cashfor-Moving’ scheme. This encourages
tenants to downsize and receive a £2,000
financial incentive to cover their costs. The
scheme was in place before the welfare
reforms to encourage better use of the
housing stock. In 2016/17 13 tenants took
up this incentive and a budget allocation
of £40k each year is available. The Housing
Strategy identifies that encouraging more
efficient use of the housing stock is one of
our priorities, including assisting underoccupying households to downsize.
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