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A A AOne of the best councils for helping to keep landlords up to date in the West Midlands is Sandwell. I am sharing this information from their latest newsletter because it is relevant to all landlords and tenants no matter where the property is let. Thank you to the lovely Ollie Wright from Sandwell Council Housing Benefit Department for this valuable information:
End of Housing Benefit for most European Economic Area migrants
The rules changed last year on the benefits that migrants from the European Economic Area (EEA) can get. Many were excluded from Housing Benefit (HB) or had their access to Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) limited. There have been more changes this year.
It’s unrealistic to try to summarise all the changes here. They are complex with lots of qualifications and exemptions. But it’s clear that some people who should know of the changes, still don’t. We still see, for example, tenancies given to people on the assumption that they will be entitled to HB when they are not.
More information is available online at gov.uk (including the rules on exemptions for some people who work).
Two points worth emphasising are that:
· the old link of entitlement to JSA automatically meaning eentitlement to HB no longer applies; and
· there is no link between tax credits and HB.
We also know that some landlords have been confusing the Home Office’s ‘Right to Rent’ rules, part of the 2014 Immigration Act, with benefit rules for migrants. There is no link between these issues. ‘Right to Rent’ is simply about your legal right to be in the UK and has no connection to benefit entitlement. For more information, visit gov.uk
EEA Member Countries.
Austria Belgium Bulgaria Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden UK.
NB while Switzerland is not in the EEA, its nationals have the rights of EEA nationals. Irish citizens have broadly the same rights as UK citizens and are not generally treated as migrants.
Last November, with our colleagues in the Housing Quality Team – we launched a new joint blog to keep people up-to-date about some of the significant changes our services are dealing with.
Mainly aimed at landlords, it covers benefits, Universal Credit and general housing issues. But is will also interest most of our partners and stakeholders.
It only takes a moment to visit the blog and sign up as a follower. You can then receive our regular updates and keep yourself informed.
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