Housing scheme fears benefit-reform disaster

AN Oldham housing association has warned that benefit reforms could spell disaster for tenants.

Guinness Northern Counties, one of the UK’s largest housing associations, runs 1,102 properties in Oldham.

It says tenants who risk falling into mounting debt because they are missing out on their benefit entitlements could soon become almost impossible to identify and help.

The warning comes as the Government considers removing the right for tenants to choose to have their housing benefit paid direct to their landlords, as has been the practice since Housing Benefit was introduced in 1987.

Under the new universal benefit proposals, which have their second reading in the House of Lords tomorrow, it would become the tenant’s responsibility to pay the correct amount to the landlord.

Carol Matthews, chief executive of Guinness Northern Counties, said: “We recently ran a campaign to help tenants who were falling into arrears because they weren’t receiving the full amount of benefits that they should have been.

“We targeted 3,000 customers with rent arrears of £80 or more, of which we only found around 100 customers. The group included pensioners, the disabled and young people trying to sustain their first tenancy.

“Nevertheless, by sitting down and looking carefully at their circumstances, we were able to help them claim a total of £317,000 in missing payments — that’s an average of over £3,000 per person.

“What really concerns us now is that direct payments will cause a significant number of additional tenants to go into arrears, so in future those very people in greatest and most genuine need will become like a needle in a haystack to find and help.”

Ms Matthews added that early intervention was vital to stop people’s debts spiralling out of control. But the task could become almost impossible if rent arrears rise as many experts predict.

“We need to get this message across to the Government before these disastrous reforms become law,” she said.

Guinness Northern Counties is a charitable provider of social housing which employs some 700 staff in more than 20 regional offices, with its corporate centre in Oldham.

Ms Matthews added: “The fact remains that many of our customers are financially vulnerable and in these increasingly difficult economic times are more at risk then ever of falling into the misery of debt.”