PRIVATE TENANTS AND PERVERSE INCENTIVES IN THE HOUSING BENEFIT SCHEME

The authors examine whether private tenants receiving housing benefit have sought to take advantage of the perverse incentives which exist i n the scheme. They look at recipients' reasons for moving to their pre sent accommodation, whether they shopped around for accommodation, whe ther they moved upmarket to better accommodation, and whether they pai d a premium for their accommodation compared with nonrecipients. It is concluded that, despite the perverse incentives, recipients had not g enerally moved to take advantage of the scheme, had shopped around for accommodation, and were not paying a 'housing benefit premium: Althou gh some recipients were paying over the odds for their accommodation t his reflected their poor position in the housing market compared with nonrecipients rather than a deliberate attempt to take advantage of th e scheme.