Housing Benefit To Be Restored For 18 to 21-Year-Olds
The government has made a dramatic U-turn by announcing that, once more, people under 22 can claim housing benefit (HB).
The decision to bar young people from claiming HB was taken by David Cameron in 2014. The then Chancellor, George Osborne, said at the time that jobless under-22s would no longer qualify for help with their rent because “it is not acceptable for young people to go from school straight to benefits.”
But, after pressure from charities that feared this would increase homelessness amongst the young, the benefits are now being restored. The move was welcomed by the Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG): “This is brilliant news, as the statistics show that those young people claiming housing benefit are doing so because they don’t have a choice about whether to live at home,” said Alison Garnham, CPAG’s chief executive.
She added: “In any case, most young people were being exempted and that puts the lie to the idea that young people are moving out of home as a lifestyle choice.”
Rick Henderson, Chief Executive of Homeless Link, the national membership organisation for homelessness services in England said: “Homeless Link strongly welcomes the Government’s announcement today that all 18-21-year-olds will be able to access support with their housing costs through Universal Credit. We have been working committedly with our members to achieve this result, and are certain that it will go some way towards providing the safety net that vulnerable young people greatly need.”
“The removal of this benefit as an automatic entitlement from April 2017 was an issue of significant concern, as it put young people at high risk of homelessness. We have spent the past year monitoring its impact and raising these concerns. While we worked with Government to secure exemptions for young people experiencing homelessness before the changes were introduced, we believed that many vulnerable individuals were still at risk of falling through the net. This was particularly concerning in light of our recent Annual Review of homelessness services, showing worryingly high levels of young people accessing these support services.”
“With the welcome focus on homelessness prevention in the Homelessness Reduction Act coming into force next week, we are pleased the Government has listened to us and the sector and taken this important step to remove a barrier to accommodation for young people at risk of homelessness.”
Seyi Obakin, chief executive of the homelessness charity Centrepoint, said the policy “risked leaving very vulnerable young people with nowhere to live”.
“It was obvious from the first time the policy was floated in 2013 that at best it would be unworkable and, at worst, it could actually increase homelessness and reduce the willingness of landlords to rent to all young people,” he said.
“Whilst the system of exemptions, which Centrepoint and others fought for, have smoothed the rougher edges of the policy, today’s welcome announcement will put the minds of young people and their prospective landlords at ease.”
