Councils fail to spend thousands earmarked for housing poor tenants
Friday, February 3rd, 2012ocal authorities are failing to spend thousands of pounds earmarked by the government for needy families that cannot afford rent and other housing costs.
New figures show that nearly £1m of the £20m set aside for discretionary housing payments in 2010-11 by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) was left untouched by councils.
Six authorities spent less than half the money they were allocated (see table below). They include Wirral council, which spent just £114,380 (47%) of the £245,200 that the DWP was willing to give the borough.
In total, £990,272 remained unclaimed by councils in England, Scotland and Wales. At the same time, other councils topped up the money they received from the DWP, taking the total awarded to £21.4m.
Discretionary housing payments (DHPs) are available to people facing financial hardship who are entitled to housing benefit or council tax benefit, but need further help paying rent or other housing costs. Most DHP claims are made by private renters who receive housing benefit in the form of local housing allowance (LHA), although the payments can also be awarded to council and housing association tenants.
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