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1674179

registered interest
date	29/11/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the amount of deductions made under the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy to (a) Housing Benefit and (b) Universal Credit claimants in each year since 2013.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow East
tabling member printed	David Linden
uin	4510
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 04/12/2023 answer text <p>Information on the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) sufficient to produce such an estimate can be found on Stat-Xplore. Stat-Xplore includes the mean of RSRS reduction, the number subject to the RSRS and the number of spare rooms for both Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Housing Element Claimants.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>Stat-Xplore can be found <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/login.xhtml" target="_blank">here.</a></p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 04/12/2023 16:13:32 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4640 label Biography information for David Linden

1600567

registered interest
date	01/03/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask His Majesty's Government how many households in England are affected by the under-occupancy charge for (1) one extra bedroom, or (2) more than one extra bedroom; and what assessment they have made of the financial impact of these deductions on those households.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL6023
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 09/03/2023 answer text <p>For the latest data available, related to September 2022, 286,149 households were subject to the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) for 1 extra bedroom, and 63,759 for 2 or more extra bedrooms. This data is available on Stat-Xplore.</p><p><strong> </strong></p><p>For 2021/22, a total of £434m worth of deductions were made for RSRS in Great Britain. This includes households on Universal Credit and Housing Benefit. No wider assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The RSRS policy applies to claims for housing support - either Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit - where the claimant is living in the social rented sector in a property that is deemed too large for their needs.</p><p> </p><p>The policy helps encourage mobility within the social rented sector to make better use of the existing social housing stock and strengthens work-incentives. An additional bedroom is allowed in certain circumstances such as for disabled people and carers, foster carers, and parents of service personnel. Additionally, those in receipt of pension age housing benefit are exempt.</p><p> </p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP’s) are available for those who need additional support with housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.6 billion in DHP’s to local authorities.</p> answering member printed Viscount Younger of Leckie question first answered 09/03/2023 12:33:58 answering member 4169 label Biography information for Viscount Younger of Leckie
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1586759

registered interest
date	17/02/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment the Government has made of the (a) financial and (b) mental health impacts on families of the removal of the spare room subsidy during the cost of living crisis; and if he will make it his policy to abolish that penalty.
tabling member constituency	Putney
tabling member printed	Fleur Anderson
uin	147436
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 27/02/2023 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The removal of the spare room subsidy policy applies to claims for housing support where the claimant is living in the social rented sector in a property that is deemed too large for their needs. The policy aims to strengthen work incentives and seeks to encourage greater mobility within the social rented sector.</p><p> </p><p>There are no plans to abolish the policy, and certain easements are available which allow for the provision of an additional bedroom in certain circumstances, such as to support the needs of disabled people.</p><p> </p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available for those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.6 billion in funding to local authorities for DHPs.</p><p> </p><p>We are doing more to help households who may be struggling. The government announced substantial cost of living support for 2023/24 in the Autumn Statement. This is intended to provide stability and certainty for households and includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable, meaning around 8 million households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to a further £900 in Payments in 2023/24. Benefits and state pensions will also be uprated by 10.1% in 2023-24.</p><p> </p><p>For those who need additional support the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable a further extension to the Household Support Fund in England over the 2023/24 financial year. In England, this scheme will be backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities will use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding. Local Authorities are expected to support households in the most need, and in particular those who may not be eligible for the other support government has recently made available.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 27/02/2023 15:19:17 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4788 label Biography information for Fleur Anderson

1580101

registered interest
date	24/01/2023
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment has he made of the effectiveness of the under-occupancy penalty; and what steps he is taking to help ensure that penalty does not contribute to household poverty.
tabling member constituency	York Central
tabling member printed	Rachael Maskell
uin	131249
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 01/02/2023 answer text <p>No assessment has been made.</p><p> </p><p>The removal of the spare room subsidy policy applies to claims for housing support where the claimant is living in the social rented sector in a property that is deemed too large for their needs. The policy aims to strengthen work incentives and seeks to encourage greater mobility within the social rented sector.</p><p> </p><p>The policy allows for the provision of an additional bedroom in certain circumstances such as to support the needs of disabled people and carers.</p><p> </p><p>For those who require additional support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities. DHPs can be paid to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs. Since 2011 we have provided nearly £1.6 billion in DHP’s to local authorities.</p><p> </p><p>In November 2022 at Autumn Budget the Chancellor announced a significant package of cost of living support for the most vulnerable claimants for 2023/24, meaning around 8 million households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to a further £900 in Payments in 2023/24. We are also continuing to provide support to all households through the Energy Price Guarantee which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24. The benefit cap will also be uprated by 10.1% in 2023-24.</p><p> </p><p>In addition, to protect the most vulnerable, working-age and disability benefits will be increased in line with inflation for 2023-24.</p><p> </p><p>The government is also extending the Household Support Fund providing an additional £1bn to help with the cost of household essentials, for the 2023-24 financial year, on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding for this support to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 01/02/2023 12:01:13 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4471 label Biography information for Rachael Maskell

1540820

registered interest
date	08/11/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what proportion of households in receipt of the spare room subsidy are in employment as of 8 November 2022.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	82346
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 17/11/2022 answer text <p>The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost.</p> answering member constituency Mid Sussex answering member printed Mims Davies question first answered 17/11/2022 14:01:15 answering member 4513 label Biography information for Mims Davies
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1487763

registered interest
date	11/07/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	2
legislature	25277 pref label House of Lords
question text	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many households are currently affected by the under-occupancy charge with deductions for (1) one extra bedroom, or (2) more than one extra bedroom; and what assessment they have made of the impact of these deductions given the increased cost of living.
tabling member printed	Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle
uin	HL1620
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/07/2022 answer text <p>The removal of the spare room subsidy is an important tool to make better use of the existing social housing stock, enable mobility within the social rented sector and contain growing housing support expenditure. It also aligns the size criteria rules used in the private rented sector in the social sector.</p><p>The policy allows for the provision of an additional bedroom to support disabled people and carers, the families of disabled children, foster carers, parents who adopt, parents of service personnel, and people who have suffered a bereavement. Additionally, those in receipt of pension age housing benefit are exempt.</p><p>Those who need additional support with their housing costs can seek assistance from their local authority via the Discretionary Housing Payment (DHPs) scheme. Since 2011 the Government has provided almost £1.5 billion in DHP funding to local authorities.</p><p>The number of Households affected by the removal of the spare room subsidy is set out in the table below.</p><p><strong>Households with a reduction due to the removal of the spare room subsidy, Great Britain, February 2022</strong></p><table><tbody><tr><td><p>One bedroom</p></td><td><p>Two or more bedrooms</p></td><td><p>Reduction applied but bedroom information is unknown</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>396,100</p></td><td><p>84,900</p></td><td><p>500</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>Notes:</p><p>i. Figures are from <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/" target="_blank">Stat-Xplore</a> and are rounded to the nearest hundred.</p><p>ii. Includes Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Housing Element. Universal Credit data for February is provisional and will be within two per cent of revised figures in future releases.</p> answering member printed Baroness Stedman-Scott question first answered 26/07/2022 14:26:21 answering member 4174 label Biography information for Baroness Stedman-Scott
tabling member	4719 label Biography information for Baroness Bennett of Manor Castle

1467450

registered interest
date	31/05/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the number of people downsizing as a result of the bedroom tax.
tabling member constituency	Warrington North
tabling member printed	Charlotte Nichols
uin	11895
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 13/06/2022 answer text <p>No recent estimate has been made. The final report into the evaluation of the removal of the spare room subsidy policy published in December 2015 found that up to eight per cent of those affected by the policy had downsized.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 13/06/2022 16:26:48 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4799 label Biography information for Charlotte Nichols

1462643

registered interest
date	12/05/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much revenue the spare room subsidy has accrued since its introduction.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	1197
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 20/05/2022 answer text <p>The RSRS is not a revenue but a reduction in benefits to encourage movement of claimants over-occupying a property into a property of a suitable size<strong>.</strong></p><p>Between its introduction in April 2013 and March 2021, reductions in Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Housing Element from the RSRS totalled £2.8 billion.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 20/05/2022 13:25:59 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1457970

registered interest
date	14/04/2022
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has undertaken an Equality Impact Assessment of the continuation of the spare room subsidy.
tabling member constituency	Ellesmere Port and Neston
tabling member printed	Justin Madders
uin	154070
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 26/04/2022 answer text <p>Such an assessment has not been made.</p><p> </p><p>Ministers continue to fulfil the requirements of the Public Sector Equality Duty and to consider the equality impacts when taking decisions about policy changes.</p><p> </p><p>The removal of the spare room subsidy is an important tool to make better use of the existing social housing stock, enable mobility within the social rented sector as well as strengthening work-incentives.</p><p> </p><p>Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPS) are available for those who need additional housing support. Since 2011 we have provided almost £1.5billion in DHP’s to local authorities.</p> answering member constituency Macclesfield answering member printed David Rutley question first answered 26/04/2022 17:03:26 answering member 4033 label Biography information for David Rutley
tabling member	4418 label Biography information for Justin Madders

1330190

registered interest
date	07/06/2021
answering body	Department for Work and Pensions
answering dept id	29
answering dept short name	Work and Pensions
answering dept sort name	Work and Pensions
hansard heading	Housing Benefit: Social Rented Housing
house id	1
legislature	25259 pref label House of Commons
question text	To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many children live in households that are subject to the under-occupancy penalty.
tabling member constituency	Glasgow South West
tabling member printed	Chris Stephens
uin	11590
answer	answer is ministerial correction date of answer 15/06/2021 answer text <p>The removal of the spare room subsidy policy has been an important tool to help to manage housing support expenditure and enable mobility within the social rented sector. For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments are available.</p><p> </p><p>The information requested for households in Housing Benefit is published and available at: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk</a></p><p> </p><p>Guidance for users is available at: <a href="https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html" target="_blank">https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/webapi/online-help/Getting-Started.html</a></p><p> </p><p>The information for Universal Credit is not readily available.</p> answering member constituency Colchester answering member printed Will Quince question first answered 15/06/2021 14:19:37 answering member 4423 label Biography information for Will Quince
tabling member	4463 label Biography information for Chris Stephens