Welfare Reform

The Welfare Reform Act is a new legislation brought in by Central Government.

Welfare Reform Act for Tenants of Working Age

(Under 61 for women, under 65 for men)

• All benefits will be paid direct to the tenant in one monthly payment in arrears, called Universal Credit
• This will be introduced in phases starting in October 2013.  There will be a regional switchover of all existing claimants by 2017.
• Under the new law, tenants will be directly responsible for paying their rent to Wolverhampton Homes
• From April 2013, tenants of working age who underoccupy their home will have their housing benefit reduced, by around 14 per cent for underoccupying by 1 bedroom and 25 per cent for 2 or more bedrooms.

Bedroom Needs 

Bedroom needs are expected to be one bedroom for each person or couple over the age of 16:

• Two children, of the same gender, aged 15 or under are expected to share a room
• Two children aged 9 or under are expected to share a room regardless or gender

Examples of one bedroom need:

• Every adult couple
• Any other adult aged 16 or over
• Any two children same sex aged under 16
• Any two children different sex aged under 10
• Any other child aged under 16
• A non-resident carer (claimant/partner have disability and need overnight care)

What Can You do

We will be contacting tenants who are most likely to be affected. In the meantime, there are steps you can take to protect your financial future:

• Get Advice - Find out how you and your family will be affected, talk to our Money Smart Team by calling 01902 556789
• Check your options - Make sure you are receiving the correct benefits and that your detailsare up to date. Contact Housing Benefits at Wolverhampton City Council.
• Find out your options - Investigate what options are open to you - for example, could you move to a smaller property to save money? Could you reduce your outgoings in any other way? Could you increase your income through work? Could a grown up child contribute more financially to the household?
• Reduce your outgoings- Make your home and appliances as energy efficient as possible
• Arrange Payments- Start paying by Direct Debit. (You could win £75 in vouchers or a Credit Union deposit of £75 increased to £150 on the six month anniversary of the account, or Home Contents Insurance for a year)
• Homes In the City- If you decide to move to a new home, register on Homes in the City and make sure you're aware of the Costs of Running a Home
• Payment Plan- If you are already in arrears, even by a small amount, speak to us straightaway to arrange a payment plan
• Wolf Savings and Loans- Join the Wolf Savings and Loans Credit Union by calling 01902 572340
• Avoiding Debt-Pay off (or reduce) all debt by the time the changes come in. Avoid taking on new debt. 

Working age

From April 2013 around 31% of working age tenants (4193 people as at 15 February 2012) will be affected by property size criteria. People of pensionable age will NOT be affected by size criteria.

For benefit purposes you are of working age:

• If you are a man under 65 years old.
• If you are a woman under 61 years old (at February 2012). The retirement age for women is increasing.
• By 2018 working age will be the same for both men and women, that is under 65 years of age.
• Later the working age will increase to 66 and then 67.

For more information visit the Direct Gov pension age calculator.

Further Information

The presentation below gives an introduction to Welfare Benefit Reform, created by Mark Henderson, Director of Housing for Wolverhampton Homes. It gives details on the impact to Council Tenants.

Benefit Cap

The benefit cap is part of the Welfare Reform Bill. From April 2013 a cap will be introduced on the total amount of benefit that working age people can receive. To find out more please see the Department of Work and Pensions Benefit Cap webpage.