January 2014 – Disabled People Failed by Discretionary Payments Scheme

04/01/2014
Nearly a third of discretionary housing payment (DHP) applications from disabled people affected by the bedroom tax were turned down, according to new National Housing Federation (NHF) figures.

While demand for payments nearly tripled during 2013, people in some areas had a low likelihood of receiving help.
Nationally, seven in ten people affected by the bedroom tax who applied for a DHP in the first six months of the policy received one. However, in parts of North Yorkshire, this fell to just two in ten, while in Wandsworth, Wokingham and Sunderland, only three in ten were successful.
Across England nearly a third (29 per cent) of disabled people affected by the bedroom tax who applied for support were turned down – more than 3,800 people from the 98 local authorities who provided information. The NHF adds that the likelihood of disabled people getting help was even lower in some areas, with just one in ten disabled people successful in parts of Kent and less than three in ten successful in North East Derbyshire, Basildon, Rotherham and parts of Lancashire.

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