Upcoming Events :
Housing Seminar: Partnerships with the Public Sector – Avoiding the pitfalls
Thu 31 May 2012
Minerva House, 5 Montague Close, London, SE1 9BB
Councils 'confused about DHPs'
Thu 02 Feb 2012
Discretionary housing payments (DHPs) are proving to be a cause of confusion for many local authorities around the country.
According to charity group Shelter, some councils are genuinely uncertain about exactly what this money can be used for.
This could explain the Landlord Information Network's recent discovery that of the £20 million allocated for DHPs during 2010/11, nearly £1 million was not used.
Toby Lloyd, Shelter's head of policy, said that a pot of money that is "allocated through a national formula but delivered on the ground on a discretionary basis is impossible to get right".
Landlord Information Network director Claire Turner added that many councils only promote DHPs to landlords and tenants in the private sector, which means lots of their counterparts in the social rented sector do not know this money is available.
Figures from the group show that six authorities used less than 50 per cent of the sum they were allocated by the Department for Work and Pensions.
For further information on any of the points raised in this article please contact Andrew Murray or Keith Jenkins in our Social Housing Team.
