The Welfare Reform Bill includes a provision for the housing element of the new universal credit, combining all current in-work benefits into a single payment, is to be paid directly to housing associations rather than to tenants, but only where the tenant is deemed ‘vulnerable’, according to the Department of Work and Pensions.

This stance is contrary to expectations and will bring the social housing sector more in line with that experienced within the Private Rented Sector where direct payment to private landlords are currently only being allowed for those tenants classed as being ‘vulnerable’.

The government’s decision to remove a previously announced additional 10% cut in housing benefit for anyone receiving Jobseeker’s allowance after more than a year was also revealed in the Welfare Reform Bill.

This decision will provide some comfort for vulnerable tenants who are dependent on the private rented sector and whose landlords are not able to cover any shortfalls in their rental payments.

As previously reported in this magazine Lord Freud, the welfare reform minister had told a recent BPF Conference that the government intended to take a more conciliatory stance towards the payment of housing directly to landlords, but only where landlords could clearly demonstrate to their local council that they were reducing their rents by around 10%.

The NLA have recently stated that some 76 % of housing benefit landlords across the country have confirmed that they are planning to reduce the number of LHA homes that they provide during 2011 and that 40% of these are planning to do so within the next 3 months.