Housing Benefit (Rent Restrictions)

Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 4 March 2003.

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Photo of Karen Buck Karen Buck Labour, Regent's Park and Kensington North

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of total housing benefit expenditure on private accommodation used for housing families in temporary accommodation in 2001–02.

Photo of Malcolm Wicks Malcolm Wicks Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions

The March 2002 report, "More than a roof" and the Government's response to it set out a challenging new approach to tackling homelessness. Specific measures include changes to Housing Benefit (HB) rules worth around £10 million to boost incentives for private sector leasing by local authorities.

HB expenditure for temporary accommodation is recorded where the accommodation is arranged by or through the Council. However, expenditure is not identified separately where a homeless person finds his/her board and lodging accommodation or where the council has no licensed or short-term lease accommodation available. Therefore it is not possible to reliably estimate total HB expenditure on private accommodation used for housing families in temporary accommodation in 2001–02.

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