Joan Ryan – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Joan Ryan on 2015-11-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether 18 to 21 year olds who live in supported accommodation will be able to claim the housing element of universal credit when they move out of supported accommodation.

Justin Tomlinson

From April 2017 the Government will remove automatic entitlement to housing support for 18-21 year olds in Universal Credit. This rule, which will apply to new claims from those who are out of work, will ensure parity with those young adults who are in employment but are unable to afford to leave home. However, there will be circumstances where it is reasonable to support a young person in living independently. The Department is discussing this issue with key stakeholders in order to determine which groups might be exempt from the general rule. This includes many organisations that provide supported accommodation for young people. It is too early to confirm the outcome from those discussions.