APPENDIX 3

HRA Rent increase –SUMMARY Equality Impact Assessment

Summary details of proposal
Annual increase in HRA rents
Reason for the service change, restructure or closure.
The rent increase is necessary to comply with rent restructuring requirements. The HRA subsidy regime assumes an annual increase in HRA rents and there is potential that subsidy will be lost in future years if there is no increase.
The HRA is required to maintain balances at a prudent level.
As rent is a major component of HRA income an annual increase needs to be considered. This is a matter for Cabinet under the Council constitution.
If a lower increase was agreed the level of resources available to support the HRA would reduce; this would require efficiencies to make up the difference.
A lower increase would also be problematic as regards the self financing settlement; this will assume rent income at the government set guideline level, and any shortfall would be embedded in the calculation of the debt settlement. This would mean a higher level of debt to be financed with a lower level of rental income in future years.
Data collection and consultation
Borough Wide Tenant liaison committee received a report on the proposed rent increase in December 2010.
Key findings
The average rent increase proposed is 6.9%. This is an average of £5.27 per week. Details of the increase and numbers affected have been used in the detailed EQIA. The increase varies across the stock by property type. The rent increase will be higher on smaller units (studio and one bed units) which are less likely to have families in.
Around two thirds of tenants are in receipt of Housing Benefit.Changes are planned to the Housing Benefit regime that will have an adverse impact on these tenants. The assessment of the changes will be dealt with as part of a review of this area.
The changes could result in more people being entitled to receipt of benefits than at present.
The impact will be greater on those over 65 as a larger proportion of our tenants are over 65 than reflected in our population as a whole (23.6% of Council tenants are 65 or over)
18% of our tenants are disabled. They will not suffer a greater disadvantage as compared to other tenants but maybe impacted by the benefit changes and rules.
In this analysis, the information is based on the individual holding the tenancy or making the Housing Benefit claim, rather than the household. The impact of the increase will extend beyond the tenant. This explains in part why Females make up 60% of Council tenants and 62.89% of Council tenants in receipt of Housing benefit. This would appear to show females are disproportionallyaffected by the increase, although this may not be the case.
Issues and Recommendations
Issue
While the rent increase appears to fall more heavily on those in receipt of Housing Benefit (HB) they are in receipt of benefit to mitigate this.
The rent increase could bring more tenants into benefit
The EQIA statistics indicate that 23.6%of tenants are aged 65 or over. This group make up 30.84% of Council tenants claiming HB, indicating the increase may be met in part for some of this group.
For those over 65 not in receipt of HB, they may have to meet the increased cost from their pension.
For tenants who are not in receipt of HB, the increase in rent may lead to an increase in the number of tenants eligible for HB.
The Council have robust rent collection policies which is designed to ensure early intervention to stop rent arrears increasing and to enable us to work with tenants to avoid them getting into payment difficulty.
/ Recommendation
To ensure the availability of HB is published to mitigate the impact for those above the existing HB level who become eligible for full or partial benefit as part of the rent increase.
Investigate existing research and survey data held, and, if necessary, the options for improving coverage.
To review existing rent collection procedures to maintain their effectiveness at identifying arrears at an early stage so that tenants with payment difficulties are identified early and appropriate assistance provided.