Adviser: Securing housing benefit if tenant hasn't moved in yet

Housing Rights Service has advisers working in each of the 3 prisons in Northern Ireland.  A key way to prevent homelessness on release is to secure housing benefit for a prisoner’s existing home.  One of our advisers, Edel, recently had a case where she was able to secure housing benefit for a client on remand, even though he hadn’t had a chance to actually move into the property at the time of his arrest.

Edel’s client, Tommy, was a male in his early 30s in custody in Maghaberry Prison. Tommy is a prolific self harmer and a very unpredictable and demanding individual.  Edel talks us through her work with Tommy.

Securing a social tenancy for Tommy

During a previous stay in custody I completed a homeless report, explaining how Tommy met each of the four homeless hurdles, and submitted this to the Housing Executive.  Tommy was given Full Duty Applicant status, scoring a total of 90 selection scheme points.  He was placed on the waiting list for social housing.

I managed to get Tommy a place in a Simon Community hostel in Downpatrick which he went to on his release from prison. 

In early 2013, Tommy was offered a property by the Housing Executive and signed for this property in Downpatrick district office.  The Simon Community had agreed to provide floating support services to Tommy to ensure that he was able to maintain his new tenancy.  However, on the day he signed the tenancy agreement he was arrested and committed to prison on remand.  Tommy hadn’t had a chance to move any of his belongings into the property.

Getting housing benefit while on remand

Prisoners on remand can get housing benefit for up to 52 weeks while they are in custody. Normal protocol requires that an applicant must have lived in the tenancy in order to be entitled to housing benefit so Tommy would not be eligible for this benefit.

Housing benefit can be awarded to a tenant who hasn’t physically moved into a property, as long as the tenant has at least moved in items of furniture.  As Tommy was arrested on the day he started his tenancy, he didn’t have an opportunity to move anything into the property.

The Housing Executive wrote to Tommy in custody to let him know that his rent account was in arrears. I tried to find a legal argument that could show that Tommy was entitled to receive housing benefit for his tenancy, despite never having moved in.

Using a Commissioner’s Decision to argue your case

I found a Commissioner’s Decision from 2004, (CH/2957/2004), which looked at the issue of when a dwelling should be regarded as an applicant’s home for housing benefit purposes.   

Based on this case the Department for Work and Pensions issued a circular to all local authority decision makers advising that they “accept that (a) claimant can be treated as occupying a dwelling even though they had not physically occupied the dwelling in person”.  The DWP circular went on to say that a local authority “must look at each case on its own merits and decide whether the claimant can be treated as occupying a dwelling as their main and only home even if the claimant has never physically stayed there from the start of the tenancy but from a later date.”

In this instance, Tommy had no other home and would have moved into the property and occupied it as his home had he not been remanded into custody.  His family had been given the keys to the property and had planned to move his belongings into the property. The Housing Executive accepted my argument and awarded housing benefit while Tommy remained on remand.

Sustaining tenancies can prevent a return to prison

People who work with offenders know the very real difference that having a settled home can have on vulnerable clients.  The Prison Reform Trust published a prison factfile back in 2010 which contains interesting statistics on the link between housing and reoffending:

• 75% of prolific or repeat offenders had housing issues, in comparison with the general prison population and
• People serving short prison sentences are two to three times more likely to reoffend if they do not have suitable housing.
• 35% of young people aged 16–25 felt a lack of accommodation was the factor most likely to make them offend

Tips for advisers

• If a client is going into prison, find out if they’ll be entitled to housing benefit to help with the rent while they’re in custody.  Whether they’ll get this will depend on how long they’re going to be in prison and whether this time will be spent on remand or as a sentenced prisoner.
• If your client isn’t entitled to housing benefit, they may be able to get permission to have someone else take over the tenancy while they are in custody.  This person will only be able to apply for housing benefit if they were already living in the property with the client when he or she went into prison.
• Housing Rights Service has housing advisers working in each of the 3 prisons and people who are in custody can ask prison staff to set up an appointment for them with one of our advisers.
• Anyone who’s worried about housing for someone who’s going into or coming out of prison should have a look at the dedicated Advice for Prisoners section of our website.