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Evaluation of the Local Housing Allowance
The introduction of the Local Housing Allowance reforms the assistance given to people on low incomes with their housing costs. The reform was signalled in April 2000 in the Labour Government's Housing Green Paper: Quality and Choice: A Decent Home for All. On the 17 October 2002 the Secretary of State announced "The biggest reform of Housing Benefit since 1988", and the Local Housing Allowance was introduced in nine Pathfinder areas from October 2003 onwards.
The Local Housing Allowance, which is part of the Government's wider strategy for Housing Benefit reform, applies to tenants in the deregulated private rented sector. The amount of the allowance awarded is based upon family size and the property's location within a 'broad rental market area', and is means-tested. The new allowance is intended to be simple to administer, transparent and predictable. In addition, Local Housing Allowance will operate in such a way that, where the rent charge is lower than the housing allowance, the tenant can keep the difference. In this way the Local Housing Allowance aims to offer a 'shopping incentive' through giving tenants the opportunity to decide how to spend their Local Housing Allowances, by securing properties above, at or below the relevant housing allowance rate.
A further key feature of the reform is the ending of direct payments of benefit to landlords except where the tenant is considered to be financially vulnerable. This means that many tenants who previously had their Housing Benefit paid direct to their landlord will instead receive the housing allowance and be responsible for paying their rent.
CRSP is a member of the national consortium evaluating the Local Housing Allowance. The consortium, which is lead by the Centre for Urban and Regional Studies at the University of Birmingham also includes the Centre for Housing Policy, University of York and the National Centre for Social Research.
Within the consortium CRSP has responsibility for the stream of research which focuses on claimants' experiences and views and contributes to the other research streams, including having responsibility for the operational case studies in three of the pathfinder areas - Coventry, Lewisham, and North East Lincolnshire.
Sponsor: Department for Work and Pensions
CRSP Project Team: Dr Simon Roberts, Yvette Hartfree, Katherine Hill, Elspeth Pound, Jacqueline Beckhelling, Dr Kim Perren, Viet-Hai Phung, Janet Harvey and Nicola Selby.
Project timetable: August 2003 - 2007.
Publications
Hill, K., Harvey, J., Phung, V-H., Sandu, A. and Roberts, S. (2007), Local Housing Allowance Final Evaluation: the qualitative evidence of claimants' experience in the nine Pathfinder areas. Local Housing Allowance Evaluation Report 13, Department for Work and Pensions, Corporate Document Services, Leeds.
Roberts, S., Beckhelling, J., Phung, V-H. (CRSP), Boreham, R., Anderson, T., and Li, N. (NatCen), (2006), Living with the Local Housing Allowance: claimants' experiences after fifteen months of the LHA in the nine Pathfinder areas. Local Housing Allowance Report 9, Department for Work and Pensions, Corporate Document Services, Leeds.
Walker, B., Niner, P., Rugg, J., Wilcox, S., Bevan, M., Roberts, S., Hartfree, Y. and Pound, E. (2005), 15 Months On: An interim evaluation of running the LHA in the nine Pathfinder areas. Local Housing Allowance Evaluation Report 8, Department for Work and Pensions, Corporate Document Services, Leeds.
Roberts, S., Beckhelling, J., Hill, K., Phung, V-H. and Stafford, B. (CRSP), Stratford, N. and Anderson, T. (NatCen), (2005), Receiving the Local Housing Allowance: claimants’ early experiences of the LHA in the nine pathfinder areas. Local Housing Allowance Evaluation Report 6, Department for Work and Pensions, Corporate Document Services, Leeds.
Walker, B., Niner, P., Rugg, J., Wilcox, S., Rhodes, D., Stafford, B., Roberts, S., Hartfree, Y. (2005), Delivering the LHA: A summary of the early experiences of implementing the LHA in the nine Pathfinder areas. Local Housing Allowance Evaluation Report 5, Department for Work and Pensions, Corporate Document Services, Leeds.
Anderson, T., Stafford, B. and Woodland, S. (2004), Claiming Housing Benefit in the Private Rented Sector. Local Housing Allowance Evaluation Report 3, Department for Work and Pensions, Corporate Document Services, Leeds.
Related publications
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