The benefit cap is the policy I have little issue with, its not like they set it at 5k, its set at a pretty high number.
Quote:
If you are a couple or have children your benefit cap is currently £500 per week. The limit for single people with no children is £350 per week.
From 7th November 2016 the benefit cap is going to be reduced and will be set at a different level depending on whether you live inside or outside London:
£442.31 a week if you are a couple or have children and live in London
£384.62 a week if you are a couple or have children and live outside London
£296.35 a week if you are a single person and live in London
£257.69 a week if you are a single person and live outside London
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However the danger is, that this is a figure that will be reduced year on year and then become a problem, thats where my concern is, but not at the current figures.
In regards to DHP it is extremely hard to successfully claim on that, generally when an applicant claims DHP, the council will do an assessment if it is cheaper to rehouse them after becoming homeless or to help them via DHP and they will typically follow the cheapest path, note tho when they are asessing the cost of rehousing it makes assumptions on this sort of process.
1 - many homeless claims will be treated as intentionally homeless and as such the council doesnt have to house them so basically no cost.
2 - council's expect people to follow what they consider proper process if DHP is "not" rewarded, meaning, staying in their current property until they are evicted by court order. This is a process that can take months, and as such those months have no cost to the council.
3 - if rehousing, it doesnt necessarily mean the person gets a council flat/house, they may get housed somewhere like a hostel.
Based on the above and the current laws in the country I speculate that single people with no children will be more likely to be turned down for DHP as they are cheaper to rehouse and have less protection in law.
Also the affordability/financial checks are much more thorough. As an example if one claims housing benefit, its generally enough to provide details of your main bank statements, proof of income and ID. For DHP, they will likely want details of "all" your banks, debts, credit cards, catalogue accounts, insurance schemes and more. They will likely decide for you what you can cut back on, and base any award on that if given. Also as an example someone claiming housing benefit whilst paying for the top sky TV package the council doesnt care, but if you try to claim you need help with housing costs asking for DHP whilst paying sky £100 month for TV, that wont be ignored.