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Arguably, one of the most controversial welfare reform policies – the decision to disallow the payment of the “housing cost element” in a Universal Claim to 18 – 21 year olds – has been removed by the Government today. Housing Rights welcome what has been described as a “U-Turn” in Government policy.
From the 6 April 2018, Support for Mortgage Interest (SMI) will be changing to a loan.
SMI is a benefit paid towards the interest on a claimants mortgage and some home improvement loans. If a claimant does not opt in, SMI benefit payments will cease and they will have to pay their mortgage interest another way.
The Housing Executive recently published their findings from the 2016 Private Tenants Survey. A total of 144 privately renting tenants across Northern Ireland gave their views and experiences of renting across a range of topics including rights as a tenant, affordability, satisfaction, and future regulation. This survey has previously been carried out in 2006 and 2012.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) released a report in March 2018 that sets out three options for using incentives to improve the private rented sector in England for people living in poverty.
Dungannon and Portadown are the next areas in Northern Ireland to have Universal Credit introduced on the 7 March 2018.
This new benefit will replace Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credits, Child Tax Credit, Income Support, Income based Job Seekers Allowance and income related Employment and Support Allowance. Anyone of working age who gets these benefits will be affected.
The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission has published its investigation into Travellers’ accommodation. The ‘Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Travellers Accommodation in NI’ report has identified 13 systematic concerns and made 45 recommendations.
The investigation identified 13 systemic issues, including:
