Income support rent components

WQ.4/2023

WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR SOCIAL SECURITY BY DEPUTY R.J. WARD OF ST. HELIER CENTRAL

QUESTION SUBMITTED ON MONDAY 16th JANUARY 2023 ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON MONDAY 23rd JANUARY 2023

Question

Will the Minister provide details, for every year since 2018, of the Income Support rent components received by each affordable housing provider who has access to the waiting list for affordable rented housing?

Answer

The Affordable Housing Gateway is the waiting list for social rented homes. The single waiting list is used by Andium Homes and by the 5 other social housing providers set out in the Income Support Regulations:

• Jersey Homes Trust;

• Les Vaux Housing Trust;

• Christians Together in Jersey Housing Trust;

• FB Cottages Housing Trust;

• Clos de Paradis Housing Trust.

The wording of the question refers to “Income Support rent components received by each affordable housing provider.” For clarity, Income Support rent components form just one part of the overall calculation to determine income support eligibility. Overall entitlement to Income Support benefit will depend on a range of factors including the size of the household and the level of wages and pensions received by the household itself. The great majority of Income Support households receive Income Support as a “top up” to their own household income and so these households do not receive the full value of any of the Income Support components that are included in their Income Support calculation.

Once the overall entitlement is determined (comprising support for living costs, accommodation costs, childcare costs and disability costs as appropriate) a weekly payment is made to the claimant. In some circumstances this weekly payment, or part of it, can be paid directly to the claimant’s landlord. The value of the direct payment will typically not equal the value of the rent component but will be a smaller amount determined in accordance with the overall Income Support calculation.

To calculate the proportion of Income Support allocated to accommodation costs, detailed analysis of monthly costs is undertaken. This analysis is not currently available at the level of individual housing trusts. The overall totals are provided in the table below: