{"id":35897,"date":"2017-10-25T14:38:12","date_gmt":"2017-10-25T13:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=35897"},"modified":"2017-10-25T14:38:12","modified_gmt":"2017-10-25T13:38:12","slug":"may-confirms-local-housing-allowance-cap-will-not-apply-to-supported-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/may-confirms-local-housing-allowance-cap-will-not-apply-to-supported-housing\/35897\/","title":{"rendered":"May confirms Local Housing Allowance cap \u2018will not apply\u2019 to supported housing"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>PM Theresa May has announced that the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) cap will not apply to supported housing<\/h2>\n<p>May has said the LHA cap will not apply to supported housing or the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/corbyn-pledges-regeneration-revolution-on-social-housing\/35329\">social housing<\/a> sector.<\/p>\n<p>The PM made the announcement at PMQs, saying the full response would be detailed next week on 31 October.<\/p>\n<p>May said: \u201cThis is something we have been looking at for the past year.\u00a0It will look at a wide range of issues. It needs to make sure the funding model is right to ensure providers of supported housing are able to access funding effectively.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe will not apply the Local Housing Allowance cap to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/dclg-minister-says-they-are-close-to-a-decision-on-supported-housing\/35640\">supported housing<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIndeed we will not be implementing it in the wider social rented sector, and the full details will be made available when we publish our response to the consultation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The announcement comes ahead of a\u00a0planned opposition day debate on supported housing later this afternoon.<\/p>\n<p>Housing associations have been calling for a \u201csustainable solution\u201d for months, with uncertainty said to have negatively affected the sector.<\/p>\n<p>Figures produced by the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.housing.org.uk\/\">National Housing Federation<\/a> show a fall from 8,800 units to 1,350 over months of concern generated by government funding review plans.<\/p>\n<p>Supported housing services are thought to save the taxpayer some \u00a33.5bn in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhs.uk\/pages\/home.aspx\">NHS <\/a>costs.<\/p>\n<p>The government\u2019s indecision has left residents and housing associations with little certainty about their future income, leaving boards to take tough decisions including:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>71 new schemes, representing 2,185 homes, postponed<\/li>\n<li>19 new developments, totalling 803 homes, cancelled<\/li>\n<li>22 existing supported schemes and three sheltered schemes, amounting to 132 homes, facing closure.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The main factors for these closures and delays relate to the uncertainty about the government\u2019s proposed funding model and the withdrawal of funding for support services.<\/p>\n<p>David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation, said:\u00a0\u201cWe are absolutely delighted that the prime minister has heard the sector\u2019s concerns and that the Local Housing Allowance cap will not apply to supported housing \u2013 and indeed the wider social housing sector.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHousing associations have been vocal and clear that the LHA cap bore no relation to the real cost of providing supported housing, a view which had gained cross-party consensus.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know all social housing tenants will be relieved with the news. Things are really starting to change and it is great to see social housing getting the right kind of attention it deserves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe look forward to seeing the detail of the government\u2019s new proposed funding model for supported housing, hoping it will truly put in on a sustainable and secure footing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Chartered Institute of Housing chief executive,<a href=\"http:\/\/www.cih.org\/terriealafat\"> Terrie Alafat CBE<\/a>, said:\u00a0\u201cThis is great news. CIH has consistently called on the government to rethink its plans to cap housing benefit for people living in supported housing at Local Housing Allowance rates, because it would have put homes for some of the most vulnerable people in our society at risk.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have also pointed out that applying the cap to the wider social housing sector risked putting social housing out of reach for younger people in particular in many areas.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe government has clearly listened to the concerns of housing professionals across the UK \u2013 we await further details of the new funding proposals with interest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Brian Dow, director of external affairs at<a href=\"https:\/\/www.rethink.org\/\"> Rethink Mental Illness<\/a>, said:\u00a0\u201cWe\u2019re pleased to see that the government has listened to our campaigning, and the wider sector, and dropped the potentially disastrous plan to cap funding for supported housing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe look forward to seeing more detail on the new funding plan and working with the government to find a solution that ensures everyone can afford the support they need.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Wera Hobhouse MP, Liberal Democrat spokesperson\u00a0for communities\u00a0and local government, added:\u00a0\u201cThis cap would have hit the most vulnerable in our society, including the homeless and victims of domestic violence living in shelters.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is right that the government has U-turned on this cruel and heartless policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMinisters must now reverse their damaging decision to scrap housing benefit for 18-21s, that risks pushing more young people into homelessness.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis would show that today\u2019s decision was not a one-off and that the government has started to rediscover its moral conscience.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>John Healey MP,\u00a0Labour\u2019s shadow secretary of state for housing, said:\u00a0\u201cOnce again, Labour is winning the arguments and making the running on government policy.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAhead of our opposition day debate later today, the government has given ground, but the devil will be in the detail \u2013 and the funding.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLabour will continue to press the government to protect the long-term future and funding of supported housing.\u201d<\/p>\n<div class=\"mk-custom-module-container\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>PM Theresa May has announced that the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) cap will not apply to supported housing<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[666,656,570],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-35897","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-planning-construction-news","7":"tag-affordable-housing","8":"tag-housing","9":"tag-social-housing"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>May confirms Local Housing Allowance cap \u2018will not apply\u2019 to supported housing | Planning, Building &amp; 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