awarded is announced annually by the Department for Work and Pensions. Some elements of the subsidy claim are subject to penalty, to encourage local authorities to control that element of expenditure. This includes high rents for care and support homes and the raising of overpayments. Overpayments of benefit are not fully funded in order to ensure that the local authority takes recovery action where appropriate. From April 2017 people between the ages of 18 and 21 will not ordinarily be entitled to housing benefit. There are fears this will increase homelessness. History Housing benefit was transferred from the Department of Health and Social Security to local authorities in 1982. This was to coincide with increasing deregulation of the private sector rental market as it was felt at the time that local authorities would have a better understanding of local rental market conditions than the DSS. Its full transfer took place in 1989 as part of a major reform of social security legislation which also saw the introduction of Income Support. Benefit cap Due to a benefit cap many claimants have had their housing benefit reduced to 50p a week, as they are receiving £23,000 in London or £20,000 in the rest of the country in other benefits. In 2017, new building providing supported housing for vulnerable people is being cut due to uncertainty whether prospective tenants will be able to pay the rent. Schemes affected include homes for war veterans, for people with learning disabilities helping them live independently. New schemes are postponed or cancelled and existing schemes are being closed. David Orr of the National Housing Federation said, "With social care in crisis, the role supported housing plays in alleviating pressures on the NHS is ever more important. These changes have not even come in yet and they have taken 7,000 homes for vulnerable people out of the pipeline. The proposed changes in funding bear no relation to the real cost of providing this type of housing. It is time government put supported housing on a secure and sustainable footing". The most vulnerable people, elderly people, severely disabled people and people with mental health problems need a great deal of support and the benefit cap disproportionately prevents them from getting what they need. Single parent families comprise more than 70% of the households which got their housing benefit capped, and the Institute for Fiscal Studies reckoned that out-of-work single