Mary Robinson – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Work and Pensions

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mary Robinson on 2016-03-10.

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help people with disabilities with the cost of housing in the private rented sector.

Justin Tomlinson

There are a number of ways the Department helps people with disabilities who are entitled to Housing Benefit and are renting in the private sector.

The enhanced package of Discretionary Housing Payments funding (£870 million over 5 years) will enable LAs to protect vulnerable claimants and support households affected by the Housing Benefit reforms.

In addition to this, single disabled people under 35 years of age who are in receipt of the severe disability premium are exempt from the shared accommodation rate under the Local Housing Allowance scheme.

Disabled people with overnight care needs may be eligible for an additional bedroom for a non-resident carer under the size criteria rules.