IDS will drop plans to impose a 10% cut in housing benefit on anyone unemployed for more than a year. But the Welfare Reform bill includes other pernicious reforms.
Iain Duncan Smith confirmed on the Today programme that the Government would drop plans to impose a 10 per cent cut in housing benefit on anyone unemployed for more than a year but denied that Nick Clegg was instrumental in the u-turn. But the Welfare Reform bill published today still includes a series of pernicious reforms to housing benefit.
Research by London Councils has estimated that the entire package will lead to 82,000 families being “at risk of losing their homes“. Some of this will be mitigated by today’s climbdown but the main problem is the reduction in Local Housing Allowance falling from the median of local rents to the 30th percentile.
Research by Declan Gaffney for Left Foot Forward and used by the Observer showed that:
“the change with the biggest numerical impact in the medium term will be the move in October 2010 from setting maximum entitlements at 50 per cent of the local housing market to 30 per cent, which will lead to losses of on average £39 a month for some 775,000 households nationally…
“It is clear that while households in London will see the most severe losses, the impact will be felt in all regions, with the north west having the highest numbers of households affected after London.”
A briefing from Shelter, the housing and homelessness charity, outlined that:
“We expect that many households will try to remain in their home and be forced to make financial sacrifices in order to do so. For those households already struggling to balance very tight budgets, a reduction in LHA will only push more of them over the edge, triggering a spiral of debt, eviction and homelessness. It will also force many households into overcrowded and sub-standard accommodation.”
Others have expressed concerns about switching indexation of Local Housing Allowance to the CPI inflation rate rather than to the cost of living. Shelter say:
“This is potentially very significant. Although rental costs are included in the CPI, the full impact of rent increases tends not to be reflected. This means the CPI may not increase at the same rate as average rents.
“To illustrate the point, over the period 1999 to 2007 the CPI increased by 15%, compared to a 44% increase in average rents. Had the LHA been set to increase in line with the CPI in 1999, it would be 20% below the level needed to rent the average property.”
The vast majority of housing benefit claimants are either pensioners, disabled people, those caring for a relative or hardworking people on low incomes, and only 1 in 8 people who receive housing benefit is unemployed.
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40 Responses to “IDS’ housing benefit u-turn masks full horror of reforms”
politicsinbrum
RT @leftfootfwd: IDS' housing benefit u-turn masks full horror of reforms writes @wdjstraw http://bit.ly/fM5BYE
Double.Karma
RT @leftfootfwd: IDS' housing benefit u-turn masks full horror of reforms writes @wdjstraw http://bit.ly/fM5BYE
sean gittins
RT @leftfootfwd: IDS' housing benefit u-turn masks full horror of reforms writes @wdjstraw http://bit.ly/fM5BYE
downinjamaica
RT @leftfootfwd: IDS' housing benefit u-turn masks full horror of reforms writes @wdjstraw http://bit.ly/fM5BYE
Peter
It also needs pointing out that the Tories are getting rid of the £15 excess from April as well. In fact I’ve just got back from my full-time voluntary job (just want to make it clear I’m not a scrounger I’m actually desperately seeking work!) to find a letter from Haringey council informing me I’ll no longer receive it from June.
I live in a private 1 bed flat that costs £230 a week, it was the cheapest I could find in the area, and I moved into it when I was working. Losing the £15 excess will mean I have to find an extra £60 a month to cover my rent from June this year. This is totally impossible for me, especially since the squeeze on bills, food, travel etc. seems to be increasing exponentially.
So what am I meant to do? Even if I wanted to move to a cheaper place my savings have gone so there’s no way I can find a deposit. I don’t have wealthy parents who can help me out. Even if I take any old crap low-paid job (which is looking more and more likely) it’ll still be pretty much impossible to pay my rent. Why should I be made homeless because the bankers f**ked up? I just don’t get it.
And in reply to Robert, talking about averages in London really isn’t very helpful, unless you’re a Daily Mail journo and you wish to hoodwink the ignorant, as the extremes are so profound they don’t represent reality for ordinary people. Well done for making your council house livable, but pity those of us who’ve got no chance of ever EVER getting into a council house (that’s most people btw). Count yourself flippin’ lucky.
PS. Some of the flats on my street are still council, one of my neighbours has been in his years and his rent is under £100 a week. Where’s the justice?