Campaigners are celebrating a major breakthrough that will end a long‑standing benefits anomaly which penalises people in supported housing when they move into work.
BHT Sussex launched a campaign called Make Work Pay for Everyone in March 2023 which aimed to address this anomaly. Since then, we have been working alongside other charities and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to push for a fair solution. The DWP has now confirmed that changes to the benefits rules will come into effect in Autumn 2026, a significant campaign victory for all those involved.
This change will make a real difference to people living in Supported Housing, including clients of our Accommodation for Work project, which provides housing and support for people experiencing homelessness to get back into work.
Bernadette Lynch, the Accommodation for Work Project Manager, said:
We were motivated to start this campaign because typically around 70% of our clients find themselves worse off when they increase their working hours, simply because they are living in a homeless hostel, and this is clearly unfair.
We have worked closely with Brighton & Hove City Council’s Housing Benefit team to use Discretionary Housing Payments to prevent residents from being financially worse off. However, these payments are discretionary, not guaranteed, and this work at the local level cannot solve a national problem. That is why we campaigned for a change to the benefits rules for everyone.
We are delighted that the change will finally come into effect this Autumn. It is the result of a great joint effort between many different charities, MPs, and government departments.
Some legislative and IT changes still need to be completed before the new rules are implemented. In the meantime, organisations like ours are helping to raise awareness so that people living in supported accommodation know that from the Autumn they will no longer face this barrier to work.
