LHA <\/a>direct payment policy as a bartering tool to lever pressure on landlords in a bid to reduce the rents for housing benefit claimants.<\/p>\nAs forecast, earlier this month in a press release from the Department of Work and Pensions, it was revealed that \u00a350 million will be allocated over the next four years, which will go towards providing housing advice, helping local authorities work with landlords and tenants on renegotiating rents, or where needed, helping with the cost of moving.<\/p>\n
It appears now that a strategy has been implemented by the government through further statements revealing, \u2018that ministers are keen that landlords from the private rental sector work with local authorities and tenants where appropriate to agree to reduce their rents in return for direct Housing Benefit payments.\u2019<\/p>\n
Landlords now face some considerable choices as to the exact implications of this proposal and will have to digest all the ramifications and pro\u2019s and cons before deciding on a course.<\/p>\n
Reducing rents for LHA tenants may seem reasonable on the surface. A further fact to consider is the implication this will have on tenants who do not receive housing benefit.\u00a0 No tenant in this situation will be at ease with rent rises, which would be forced upon them, while the unemployed tenants next door receive a reduction for the same type of property.\u00a0 A rent increase enforced on non-LHA tenants could be construed as subsidizing the rental loss created by the rent reduction applied to LHA tenants.<\/p>\n
The DWP believe that when landlords reduce their rents to a level that is affordable to the tenant, the result will bring an overall downward pressure on rents in the private sector resulting in more properties becoming available to those on housing benefit.<\/p>\n
Landlords should be particularly careful before deciding on a reasonable rent and take into consideration interest rate rises along with maintenance costs on the property.<\/p>\n
However, before any landlord should enter into negotiations with a local authority concerning any direct payment for rent reduction trade-off, in the same press release, it was revealed that a \u00a3130 million transitional fund has been established to help those affected by the reforms and shortfalls in housing benefit, to be dispersed at the discretion of the local authority.\u00a0 The distribution of these discretionary payments has been recommended as thus:<\/p>\n
\u00b7 East Midlands \u00a31,270,098<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 Eastern \u00a32,203,059<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 Greater London \u00a34,159,705<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 Inner London \u00a34,021,349<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 North East \u00a3866,262<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 North West \u00a32,986,408<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 Scotland\u00a0\u00a32,676,839<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 South East\u00a0\u00a33,797,937<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 South West\u00a0\u00a32,236,504<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 Wales\u00a0\u00a31,422,995<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 West Midland\u00a0\u00a32,345,663<\/p>\n
\u00b7\u00a0 Yorks and Humberside \u00a32,013,181<\/p>\n
While certain aspects of the Welfare Reform Bill have been highlighted this week, the most significant amendment would be attributed to the abandonment of the proposed 10% housing benefit cut that was due to be imposed on claimants who are in receipt of Jobseeker\u2019s allowance for more than 12 months.<\/p>\n
The lack of consistency surrounding the Reform Bill along with guidelines and proposals from the government to landlords concerning incentives and initiatives is frankly not detailed or structured enough to give landlords a realistic view.<\/p>\n
As part of their ongoing research, Legal 4 Landlords are corresponding with the DWP in hope to secure some fact-based information.\u00a0 However, L4L researchers are of a view that Local Authorities will be given the responsibility to communicate with private landlords and landlord groups to promote incentives and will probably set a \u2018reasonable\u2019 rent for housing benefit claimants, \u00a0based on their own region and borough, which will be forwarded to landlords.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Latest Landlord News by:\u00a0 Madalena Penny Earlier this year, insightful researchers at landlord network, \u2018Legal 4 Landlords\u2019 predicted that the government would use LHA direct payment policy as a bartering tool to lever pressure on landlords in a bid to reduce the rents for housing benefit claimants. As forecast, earlier this month in a press […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":11204,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[34,16,78],"yoast_head":"\n
Welfare Reform Incentives? - Landlords Need a Clearer Picture - Legal For Landlords<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Welfare Reform Incentives? - Landlords Need a Clearer Picture - Legal For Landlords\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Latest Landlord News by:\u00a0 Madalena Penny Earlier this year, insightful researchers at landlord network, \u2018Legal 4 Landlords\u2019 predicted that the government would use LHA direct payment policy as a bartering tool to lever pressure on landlords in a bid to reduce the rents for housing benefit claimants. As forecast, earlier this month in a press […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Legal For Landlords\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-02-23T08:36:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.legal4landlords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/benefits-agency-297x300.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Joanna Plane\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Joanna Plane\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/\",\"name\":\"Welfare Reform Incentives? - Landlords Need a Clearer Picture - Legal For Landlords\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-02-23T08:36:54+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-02-23T08:36:54+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#\/schema\/person\/946561f510196f73204ff7c85e521669\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Welfare Reform Incentives? – Landlords Need a Clearer Picture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/\",\"name\":\"Legal For Landlords\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#\/schema\/person\/946561f510196f73204ff7c85e521669\",\"name\":\"Joanna Plane\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06c5b9674c084673a3fdc88deb9d7ad9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06c5b9674c084673a3fdc88deb9d7ad9?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Joanna Plane\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/legal4landlords.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/author\/joanna_plane\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Welfare Reform Incentives? - Landlords Need a Clearer Picture - Legal For Landlords","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Welfare Reform Incentives? - Landlords Need a Clearer Picture - Legal For Landlords","og_description":"Latest Landlord News by:\u00a0 Madalena Penny Earlier this year, insightful researchers at landlord network, \u2018Legal 4 Landlords\u2019 predicted that the government would use LHA direct payment policy as a bartering tool to lever pressure on landlords in a bid to reduce the rents for housing benefit claimants. As forecast, earlier this month in a press […]","og_url":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/","og_site_name":"Legal For Landlords","article_published_time":"2011-02-23T08:36:54+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.legal4landlords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/benefits-agency-297x300.jpg"}],"author":"Joanna Plane","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Joanna Plane","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/","url":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/","name":"Welfare Reform Incentives? - Landlords Need a Clearer Picture - Legal For Landlords","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-02-23T08:36:54+00:00","dateModified":"2011-02-23T08:36:54+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#\/schema\/person\/946561f510196f73204ff7c85e521669"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/welfare-reform-incentives-landlords-need-a-clearer-picture\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Welfare Reform Incentives? – Landlords Need a Clearer Picture"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#website","url":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/","name":"Legal For Landlords","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#\/schema\/person\/946561f510196f73204ff7c85e521669","name":"Joanna Plane","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06c5b9674c084673a3fdc88deb9d7ad9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/06c5b9674c084673a3fdc88deb9d7ad9?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Joanna Plane"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/legal4landlords.com"],"url":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/author\/joanna_plane\/"}]}},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11204"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev.withcreative.co.uk\/lforl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/blog.legal4landlords.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/benefits-agency.jpg\" "\\"housing")
<\/a><\/p>\n