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The Lord Chief Justice believes, in cases of social housing rent arrears, it would be helpful for all parties to be aware of the steps that the court will expect to be taken before starting court action. A draft pre-action protocol setting out these steps has been released for consultation.
The second annual Poverty in Northern Ireland report (August 2013) gives estimates of the proportion of children, working age adults and pensioners living in low income households during 2011-2012.
The report is based on information collected for the annual Family Resources Survey, which has been running since 2002. Some of the key findings include:
New regulations come into force on 1 September 2013 which will change how Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are set in future.
Since 2011, LHA rates have been set using the lowest 30% of rents (the 30th percentile) in selected geographical areas known as Broad Rental Market Areas.
Further changes were introduced in 2012 to allow the rate of LHA to be frozen for a year and to have it linked to the Consumer Price Index.
Croatia acceded to the EU on 1 July 2013. The UK has placed restrictions on the rights of Croatian nationals to access the UK labour market by setting up a Worker Authorisation Scheme. These restrictions will last until at least 30 June 2018.