Welfare reform: New regs allow councils to share data with landlords

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government

New powers that came in this month allow councils to share information with social landlords on who may be affected by the the imminent welfare reforms - including the household benefit cap and the under-occupation penalties.

Powers in the Welfare Reform Act enable the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and local authority housing benefit teams to supply social security data to ‘qualifying persons’ for purposes connected with a welfare service.

The new regs prescribe social landlords as a qualifying person, for the purpose of receiving data about people who might be affected by the under-occupation cuts and the household benefit cap - both of which come in next April.

The National Housing Federation has welcomed the new regulations, and has said that “they will enable greater coordination between local authorities and housing associations in supporting tenants at risk of reductions in benefits.”