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Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy Final Report December 2015 Research Report No 913 A report of research carried out by by the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research and Ipsos MORI on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions. Views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Department for Work and Pensions or any other government department. © Crown copyright 2015. You may re-use this information (not including logos) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: [email protected]. This document/publication is also available on our website at: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/department-for-work-pensions/about/ research#research-publications If you would like to know more about DWP research, please email: [email protected] First published December 2015. ISBN 978 1 911003 14 4 Views expressed in this report are not necessarily those of the Department for Work and Pensions or any other Government Department. Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy – Final Report Summary This report presents findings from the evaluation of the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy (RSRS) undertaken by Ipsos MORI and the Cambridge Centre for Housing and Planning Research. The fieldwork was carried out over the first 20 months of implementation, from April 2013 until November 2014. An interim report was published in July 2014. The objectives of this project were to evaluate: • The preparation, delivery and implementation of the policy changes by local authorities and social landlords. • The extent of increased mobility within the social housing sector leading to more effective use of the housing stock. • The extent to which as a result of the RSRS more people are in work, working increased hours or earning increased incomes. • The effects of the RSRS on, and responses to it of: – Housing Benefit (HB) claimants. – Social landlords. – Local authorities (LAs). – Voluntary and statutory organisations and advice services. – Funders lending to social landlords. 3 Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy – Final Report Contents Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................... 10 The Authors ............................................................................................................................11 List of abbreviations............................................................................................................... 12 Glossary of terms .................................................................................................................. 13 Executive summary .............................................................................................................. 14 1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................... 21 1.1 Aims ...................................................................................................................... 21 1.2 Background ........................................................................................................... 21 1.3 Research methods ................................................................................................ 22 2 Implementation ................................................................................................................ 28 2.1 Numbers and profile of households affected ......................................................... 28 2.2 Degree of impact on landlords .............................................................................. 31 2.3 Administering the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy ...................................... 32 2.3.1 Payment methods ................................................................................... 34 2.3.2 Communication between claimants, landlords and local authorities ...... 36 2.4 Administering Discretionary Housing Payments ................................................... 37 2.4.1 Discretionary Housing Payments in Scotland and Wales ....................... 38 2.4.2 Awarding Discretionary Housing Payments ............................................ 39 2.4.3 The role of landlords in supporting tenants to apply for Discretionary Housing Payments .................................................................................. 40 2.4.4 Renewal and conditionality of Discretionary Housing Payments ............ 42 2.5 The costs of implementation ................................................................................. 44 2.5.1 The costs of implementation for local authorities .................................... 44 2.5.2 Costs for social landlords ........................................................................ 44 3 The response of claimants .............................................................................................. 47 3.1 Overall responses ................................................................................................. 47 4 Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy – Final Report 3.1.1 Responses of claimants who were no longer affected ............................ 47 3.1.2 Responses of those who were still affected ............................................ 49 3.1.3 Comparing the responses of different groups ......................................... 50 3.2 Finding work or increasing incomes ...................................................................... 51 3.2.1 Support for finding work .......................................................................... 52 3.3 Moving to the private rented sector ....................................................................... 53 3.4 Claiming Discretionary Housing Payments ........................................................... 54 3.5 Taking in lodgers and family members .................................................................. 57 3.6 Paying the shortfall ................................................................................................ 58 3.6.1 How many were paying?......................................................................... 58 3.7 Managing on a lower budget ................................................................................. 61 4 Changes to the social housing stock ............................................................................... 65 4.1 Altering or reclassifying stock ................................................................................ 65 4.1.1 Altering stock .......................................................................................... 65 4.1.2 Reclassifying the number of bedrooms in properties .............................. 66 4.2 Allocations and lettings .......................................................................................... 67 4.2.1 Assessing the size of home required ...................................................... 69 4.2.2 Means testing housing applicants ........................................................... 70 4.2.3 Other changes to allocation policies ....................................................... 70 4.2.4 The impact of the changes to allocations on who can access social housing ................................................................................................... 71 4.3 Downsizing ............................................................................................................ 72 4.3.1 Geographical variation in downsizing ..................................................... 75 4.3.1 Landlords’ role in facilitating downsizing ................................................. 76 4.3.2 Allowing downsizing with rent arrears ..................................................... 78 4.3.3 Demand for downsizing .......................................................................... 79 4.3.4 Barriers to downsizing............................................................................. 82 4.3.5 Claimants’ reasons for not wanting to downsize ..................................... 83 4.4 The impact on overcrowding ................................................................................. 86 4.5 Changes to demand for social housing ................................................................. 88 5 Evaluation of Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy – Final Report 4.5.1 Managing turnover and voids.................................................................. 88 4.5.2 Shared housing ....................................................................................... 92 4.6 Changes to development plans ............................................................................. 95 4.7 Financing future development of social housing ................................................... 97 4.8 Rent collection and arrears ................................................................................... 98 4.9 Evictions and homelessness ................................................................................. 99 4.9.1 Evictions................................................................................................ 100 4.9.2 Homelessness services ........................................................................ 102 5 The impact on voluntary organisations, advice and support services
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