§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claims for housing benefit have not been processed within 14 days since 1 April. [140962]
§ Angela EagleThe information is not yet available.
§ Mr. WebbTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many amendments have been made to Housing Benefit regulations since 1 January. [140961]
§ Angela EagleI refer the hon. Member to my written answer to the hon. Member for Havant (Mr. Willetts) on 6 November 2000,Official Report, column 95W.
§ Mr. ColemanTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security if he will list for(a) England and (b) London for each of the years 1990 to 2000 the number of private rented tenants claiming Housing Benefit for the years 1990–91 to 2000–01 inclusive, (i) the average eligible rent, (ii) the average amount of Housing Benefit paid per tenant and (iii) the total of Housing Benefit paid to private tenants. [140996]
§ Angela EagleThe available information is in the tables.
864W
Private tenants case load, average eligible rent and Housing Benefit for England and London 1990–2000 Private tenants Average eligible rent (£) Average Housing Benefit (£) England 1990–91 929,000 30.40 26.20 1991–92 958,000 36.50 33.10 1992–93 1,195,000 44.20 40.50 1993–94 1,379,000 49.10 45.50 1994–95 1,497,000 53.20 49.50 1995–96 1,614,000 56.60 52.50 1996–97 1,653,000 58.90 54.30 1997–98 1,609,000 60.80 55.80 1998–99 1,570,000 62.50 56.90 1999–2000 1,543,000 63.90 58.20 London 1990–91 188,000 40.80 35.90 1991–92 202,000 46.30 42.80 1992–93 267,000 54.80 50.90 1993–94 307,000 61.50 58.20 1994–95 340,000 67.90 64.60
Private tenants case load, average eligible rent and Housing Benefit for England and London 1990–2000 Private tenants Average eligible rent (£) Average Housing Benefit (£) 1995–96 362,000 72.60 68.90 1996–97 360,000 75.70 71.50 1997–98 339,000 78.10 73.50 1998–99 323,000 80.00 74.60 1999–2000 303,000 82.60 77.00 Notes:
1. The data refer to households, which may be a single person, couple or a family.
2. The caseload figures have been rounded to the nearest thousand.
3. The average cash amounts have been rounded to the nearest ten pence.
4. The Private Tenant figures include cases that are classified as Registered Social Landlords/Housing Association.
5. Figures from the Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count for any non-responding authorities will have been estimated. Private Tenant figures exclude any Extended Payment.
Source:
1. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System, annual 1 per cent. sample, taken in May 1990 and May 1991.
2. Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Management Information System Quarterly 100 per cent. caseload stock-count taken in each quarter from May 1992 to February 2000.
Annual Housing Benefit rent allowance expenditure in respect of private tenants for England and London from 1990 to 1999 £ million England London 1990–91 1,565 — 1991–92 2,167 — 1992–93 2,934 — 1993–94 3,809 — 1994–95 4,432 — 1995–96 4,946 1,495 1996–97 5,272 1,557 1997–98 5,125 1,460 1998–99 5,095 1,410 Notes:
1. The rent allowance expenditure information includes the expenditure in respect of registered Social Landlords/Housing Association tenants.
2. Information for London is not available before 1995–96.
Source:
Housing Benefit Subsidy claim forms from local authorities and Housing Revenue Account data from the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions.
§ Mr. Alasdair MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security (1) if he will further amend the Housing Benefit (General) Amendment (No. 2) Regulations 1998, part 3(h), to take account of individuals whose financial circumstances have changed between selling the property they continue to reside in and making a claim for Housing Benefit; [140437]
(2) for what reason the amendment of Regulation 7 of the Housing Benefit Regulations excluded from benefit people who had previously owned their home. [140438]
§ Angela EagleThe intention of the provision was to halt the abuse where an owner-occupier transfers ownership of his or her home without money changing hands, or for less than the market price, and rents it back. Housing Benefit is still available to anyone who can prove that he or she was forced to transfer or sell because of, for example, mortgage arrears.
865WWe are also aware of some cases where people sold their properties on a commercial basis some time ago and are now renting them. There is no evidence to suggest that such transactions took place to enable the seller to take advantage of the Housing Benefit scheme. We are proposing, therefore, to introduce regulations shortly which will enable an ex-owner to claim Housing Benefit provided five years have elapsed since he or she ceased to own the property.
§ Dr. IddonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what impact the transfer of local authority housing stock into other control has had on expenditure on Housing Benefit to date. [141193]
§ Angela EagleThe information is not available. This is because the data local authorities provide on Housing Benefit spending do not enable us to distinguish between spending on tenants who live in stock that has been transferred and those who live in other stock.
§ Mr. LoveTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what recent meetings he has had with interested parties on the subject of Housing Benefit; and if he will make a statement. [141104]
§ Angela EagleIn recent months I have, on behalf of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Social Security, met with local councillors, local authority representatives and Members of the House who have an interest in Housing Benefit.
We are always keen to listen to the views of people with an interest in Housing Benefit. To this end, we are currently studying the consultation responses to the Housing Green Paper and we will take decisions on how to proceed in the light of them. We will announce our intentions shortly.
§ Mr. WillettsTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security, pursuant to his answer of 20 November 2000,Official Report, column 67W, to the hon. Member for West Chelmsford (Mr. Burns) on Housing Benefit, if he will provide the same information concerning the proportion of Housing Benefit claims that are cleared within 14 days of receipt for each other local authority. [141083]
§ Angela EagleThe available information has been placed in the Library.