Dear Jane,
FAO: Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee
On 3rd March 2017, the government laid regulations before parliament to remove the
automatic entitlement to housing costs under Universal Credit for single people aged
between 18 and 21.
The government expects to save £105m from this policy over the course of this parliament. It
is expected to affect 1,000 young people in the first year, rising to 11,000 eventually. The
policy applies only to single Universal Credit claimants, and only to those in a Universal
Credit Full Service areas.1
Shelter is disappointed that these amendments have been laid and fear that young people
will be left with nowhere else to go but sleep rough or sofa surf. Rough sleeping continued to
rise last year, with 4,134 counted in a single night across England in Autumn 2016.
We believe this measure runs counter to the government’s support of the Homelessness
Reduction Bill and will mean young people will have nowhere else to turn but to the streets.
Key questions:
1. What is the government doing to ensure that landlords will not be dissuaded
from renting to young people as a result of this policy?
2. What is the government doing to ease the process of claiming Universal Credit
housing costs for 18-21-year olds who are eligible for an exemption?
3. How will a process of third party assessments work in DWP guidance?
4. How will the government monitor the impact of the policy and against what
objectives?
1. What is the government doing to ensure that landlords will not dissuaded from
renting to young people as a result of this policy?
We are deeply concerned that despite the nuances to this policy, landlords will be deterred
from renting to young people, believing that all 18 to 21-year-olds are no longer entitled to
housing benefit or because they cannot have confidence that a potential tenant will qualify
for an exemption
1
Universal Credit has two rollout strategies: Live Service and Full Service. The Live Service takes
applications from a limited group of claimants, mostly single jobseekers. The Live Service is in
operation across Great Britain so that new claimants must claim Universal Credit and can no longer
claim the legacy (old) benefits, such as Jobseeker’s Allowance and housing benefit. The second
rollout, Full Service, accepts applicants from all people of working age, placing no restrictions on who
can apply. Full Service is gradually rolling out across the country, replacing legacy benefits and Live
Service systems.
The National Landlords Association has reacted to the new regulations by saying: “Never
mind the nuances, all landlords will hear is that 18-21 year olds are no longer entitled to
housing benefit. Faced with a young person who may not be able to pay the rent, a landlord
won’t worry about the details of their life, they just won’t consider them as a tenant.”
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has mirrored a number of existing
exemptions from other pieces of legislation in the 18-21s policy. For example, people who
are exempt from the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) are also exempt from the 18-21s
policy. Therefore, while the exemptions to the policy are welcome, these exemptions are
unduly complicated and extremely difficult to understand, as they require cross-referencing
to other pieces of legislation.
We would urge the government to issue a consumer-friendly information campaign detailing
who is affected and who is not affected by this policy to both landlords and young people as
soon as possible, to avoid confusion over this policy.
The Catch 22 problem
In theory exemptions are provided to ensure that vulnerable young people can access
housing benefit. But Universal Credit rules create a Catch 22 problem that means even
young people who should be eligible for support will struggle to find accommodation.

Crucially, to make a claim for the housing costs in Universal Credit, a
tenant must show that they have a liability to pay rent. The claimant must
submit evidence to make a claim, which can either be a tenancy agreement,
or in some circumstances a letter from the landlord confirming the rent.

However, in order to secure a tenancy in the first place, it is likely the
landlord would want to know that the young person has a guaranteed
exemption to this policy, and is eligible for housing support, before
agreeing to a tenancy agreement.

But the potential tenant cannot say for sure that they have an exemption
before making a claim. And the tenant cannot make a claim before having a
liability to pay the rent.
Because of this Catch 22, young people may find they are unable to find a landlord that will
rent to them.
If there is no solution to the Catch 22 problem, it is difficult to see how young people, even if
they are mean to be exempt from the policy, will successfully avoid becoming homeless.
This diagram shows how ‘Alex’, regardless of whether she is exempt from the policy or not,
ends up becoming homeless whichever way she turns.
2. What is the government doing to ease the process of claiming Universal Credit
housing costs for 18-21-year olds who are eligible for an exemption?
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has said a number of groups will be exempt
from the policy (the exemptions are listed below). This is welcome but still creates
unnecessary risk.
The DWP accepts that establishing whether it would be inappropriate for a young person to
live in the parental home will be less straightforward than establishing that a claimant is in
receipt of one of the specified disability benefits that passport them to an exemption.
Under the proposed system, a young person would gain an exemption by having an
interview with their work coach. It is understood that this is intended to be a ‘light touch’
system and work coaches will not require lots of proof in order to grant an exemption.
Even so, young people may not want to reveal things to their work coach relating to them
living at home for fear it might affect whether they are eligible for other benefits. They may
also be reluctant to disclose details such as sexual abuse and sexuality, and it is likely to be
painful to have to repeat distressing evidence.
3. How will a process of third party assessments work in DWP guidance?
The reason why the Catch 22 problem arises is that under the rules of Universal Credit, the
decision on whether someone is eligible for the housing cost element cannot be made until
the claimant has liability for rent.
The DWP is working on guidance with stakeholders, including the guidance on when it
should be determined that it is inappropriate for a young person to live in the parental home.
We are calling for a third party assessment that could authenticate the young person’s
statement that they cannot live with their parents.
This could mean that if the young person has already been assessed by a third party – for
example a homelessness provider or a local authority – they would be granted an
exemption.
It is critical that the third party assessment does not make the claim process more onerous
for the young person. We would still want a young person to be able to ask for an exemption
from their work coach without evidence from a third party.
However, we believe a third party assessment process may help lessen the Catch 22
problem. This is because the young person would be able to provide a third party
assessment letter to a landlord as proof that they are exempt from the policy and therefore
able to claim housing costs in Universal Credit. This may give the landlord more confidence
to agree to rent to the young person.
a) For this process to work, the DWP would need to be as broad as possible in defining
which organisations would qualify as a third party assessor, including – as well as
statutory agencies – local homelessness charities and housing and debt advice
charities. Especially in rural areas, finding local third party services could be difficult.
b) The DWP must ensure that work coaches consistently grant an exemption where a
young person has already been assessed by a third party to ensure landlords have
confidence in the system.
c) Agencies that qualify as third party assessors may need training to recognise the
specific needs of young people for whom it would be inappropriate to live in the
parental home.
5. How will the government monitor the impact of the policy and against what
objectives?
We are very concerned that the decision to remove housing support for 18-21s will dissuade
landlords from renting to young people and could lead to a rise in youth rough sleeping. We
urge the government to work with Shelter and other charities to monitor the impact of this
measure, and review the policy if its impact is having a detrimental effect on young people.
Yours Sincerely,
Heather Spurr, Policy Officer, Shelter
Appendix: Exemptions
A number of single young people will still be entitled to housing support under Universal
Credit, if they can prove one of the following:
•
People who are responsible for a child/children
•
People exempt from the Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR)
•
People in Temporary Accommodation
•
People who do not have a parent
•
Neither parent lives in Great Britain
•
People for whom it is inappropriate for the person to live with parents, including if
there is a serious risk to physical or mental health or they would suffer significant harm
•
Those not subject to All Work Related Requirements
•
Domestic violence has been inflicted on or threatened against the renter by the
renter’s partner or former partner or by a family member
•
week
People who are working 16 hours per week or as an apprentice for 16 hours a
•
People who have been working 16 hours a week or as an apprentice in the past 6
months
People not in the All Work Related Requirements Group
The regulations stipulate that the removal of HB will only apply to those who are in the ‘All
Work Related Requirements’ (AWRR) group.2 People who are not in the AWRR group
include:
 Pregnant women, 11 weeks or less before the expected week of birth
 Those with Limited Capacity to Work
 Carers for a severely disabled person
2
Depending on their circumstances, Universal Credit claimants fall into one of four groups called
‘work-related groups’. The group they fall into determines what they will be required to do in terms of
searching for work. If they do not meet their work-related requirement, their Universal Credit award
may be reduced. Those who fall into the All Work Related Requirements Group (AWRR) are typically
claiming Jobseekers Allowance. They are unlikely to have impediments to finding work, such as a
recognised severe disability or illness. These people have to do everything they can to find work,
including looking for employment, applying for jobs and going to interviews. They must be available to
take up work straight away.



A responsible carer for a child under 1
Women who were pregnant and it is 15 weeks or less since the date of birth
Some types of students
People who are in the AWRR but not subject to work-search requirements for a
limited period of time
Those who are in the AWRR group will be exempt from the policy if they qualify as being not
subject to work-search requirements for a limited period of time. These people include:







People who are attending a court or tribunal as a party to any proceedings or as a
witness
Prisoners
People who are absent from Great Britain temporarily because they are receiving
medical treatment
People who have experienced the death of their partner in the last six months
People on a drug or alcohol recovery course for up to six months
People under protection due to their involvement in investigations or proceedings for
up to three months
People engaged in an activity in the nature of a public duty approved by the
Secretary of State
The SAR
The government has tried to ease the exemption process by taking the exemptions to the
Shared Accommodation Rate (SAR) over to the 18-21s policy. These include:



Care leavers
The government is exempting care leavers through the existing rule that the SAR
doesn’t apply to people under 22. These people will be exempt from the 18-21s
policy.
Disabled people
People who receive the Disability Living Allowance at the middle or highest rate, or
the daily living component of Personal Independence Payment are also exempt from
the SAR. These people will be exempt from the 18-21s policy.
MAPPA
There is some confusion over whether people subject to Multi-Agency Public
Protection Arrangements will be exempt because only people aged over 25 are
currently eligible for this in the current SAR arrangements.
Supported Housing
It is worth noting that though Supported Housing tenant are not exempt from the 18-21s
policy, the majority will still not be subject to it. This is because most Supported Housing is
classed as ‘specified accommodation’. ‘Specified accommodation’ tenants are exempt from
having to claim housing costs Universal Credit. This means the majority of people in
Supported Housing will still be claiming legacy housing benefit and will not have to make a
UC claim for housing costs.