MRAssociates — Knowledge base

Basic info

In an exempt accommodation case where the landlord is not a registered housing association the local authority receives 100% government subsidy on benefit up to the level of the CRR with either 60% subsidy or zero subsidy on the remainder.

60% or zero?

The 60% subsidy rate on benefit above the CRR only applies where the local authority has been unable to restrict the rent used in the benefit calculation for either of the following reasons:

• Protected groups (the main reason why rent cannot be restricted in exempt accommodation)
  • The claimant or a member of the claimant’s family belongs to one of three protected groups (see below) and
  • Either there is no suitable cheaper accommodation available, or there is but it is unreasonable to expect the claimant to move to it
• Temporary protection (a less common reason why rent cannot be restricted in exempt accommodation)
  • The claimant was able to afford their rent when the liability commenced and it is less than 13 weeks since the start of the benefit award, or
  • A member of the family or a relative who lived in the claimant’s current dwelling has died within the last 12 months

In all other cases there is zero subsidy from central government on the part of the benefit award above the CRR.

Protected groups

The protected groups (often referred to by Housing Benefit practitioners as “vulnerable categories”) are:

• A person who has reached the qualifying age for State Pension Credit
• A person who is officially recognised by the Department for Work and Pensions as being unfit for work - usually such a person will be receiving Employment and Support Allowance-allowance "Glossary: Employment and Support Allowance")-allowance "Glossary: Employment and Support Allowance")
• A person who is responsible for a child or “young person”
  • A “young person” means a teenager who has reached the age of 16 but is still in non-advanced education and regarded as a dependant for Child Benefit purposes