§ 31. Mr. Campbell-SavoursTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what policy proposals she has for reducing housing benefit payments in the case of inflated rent levels. [19088]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThere are already measures in place which restrict the amount of rent which can be used to calculate housing benefit entitlement. Generally, housing benefit will only meet average rents for tenants living in the private rented sector. However, we are looking at the interaction of housing and housing benefit as part of the Comprehensive Spending Review.
§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security how many claimants in the benefits area relating to the Hendon constituency are in receipt of housing benefit; how many of these are in(a) private houses, (b) local authority housing and (c) housing association housing; and if he will indicate in respect of each category (i) the highest amount paid, (ii) the average figure, (iii) the median figure and (iv) the upper and lower quartile figures. [20817]
§ Mr. Keith BradleyThe information is not available in the format requested as housing benefit information is not collected on a constituency basis. Such information as is available relates to the London Borough of Barnet and is set out in the table.
Caseloads and weekly average amounts of housing benefit for the London Borough of Barnet at the end of May 1997 Local authority tenants Private tenants(excluding housing association tenants) Housing association tenants Recipients 9,340 8,010 2,610 Average housing benefit £47.78 £87.25 £77.46 Note:
Recipients may be a single person or a couple.
Source:
Housing Benefit Management Information System.