§ Mr. PoundTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what changes he proposes to make to housing benefit when pension credit is introduced. [35156]
§ Malcolm WicksThe Government's aim in introducing pension credit is to guarantee pensioners a decent income in retirement and, for the first time, to reward those with savings rather than penalise them. Housing benefit makes a vital contribution to this strategy, by allowing pensioners to access affordable housing.
Under pension credit, most pensioners over 65 will be asked for a statement of their circumstances every five years. Housing benefit awards will follow the same timings. From 2003, we will no longer ask pensioners to make a repeat claim for housing benefit every year.
This will reduce burdens on pensioners, simplify administration and allow local authorities to focus more resources on targeting fraud, rather than processing routine renewal claims.
We believe that it would be wrong to deny housing benefit recipients the extra support that pension credit will provide. We will therefore raise the housing benefit income threshold by the maximum amount of the pension credit savings reward, to an expected level of £113.80 for single pensioners in 2003. In addition, we will treat pensioners' capital more generously, taking into account £1 for every £500 instead of every £250 of qualifying savings.
As a result of these changes, 1.9 million pensioner households will get more help, or help for the first time, through housing benefit.