Housing benefits in Bracknell processed quicker than average

Between April 2017 and and March 2018, new claimants in Bracknell Forest waited on average 21 days before their application was completed, according to data from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

The local figures are slightly below the national average wait of 22 days, which includes weekends, despite councils being legally required to respond to claims within two weeks, or as soon as is practical.

According to the figures, Bracknell Forest Council processed 1,088 new cases over the 12 month period. In February 2018, which are the latest figures, there were a total of 5,210 housing benefits claimants in Bracknell Forest.

Residents are eligible for housing benefit if they rent, are on a low income or other benefits, and if their savings are below £16,000.

The amount applicants receive differs depending on whether they rent from the council, or privately, their salary and whether they have any spare rooms.

The charity Turn2Us, which helps people with financial hardship gain access to welfare benefits, has warned that delays in processing benefits can have a serious impact on the applicants' lives.

Pritie Billimoria, head of communications, said: "Housing benefit is not a luxury people can afford to wait for.

"It is not good enough that the average wait is almost twice as long as the legal requirement and with the minimum wait for Universal Credit at 35 days, people are simply being dragged into a waiting game that they cannot afford.

"At best, these delays and long waiting times are leaving people on the brink of losing the roof over their head and at worst are pushing people into homelessness.”

A DWP spokeswoman said: "We spend around £23 billion a year on housing benefit - more than any other OECD country as a proportion of GDP.

"We work directly with each local authority to monitor housing benefit performance and this includes the speed of processing which has remained stable over a number of years."