Thousands Could Lose Their Homes In Benefit Shake Up

Recent changes in housing benefit paid to low earners means the gap between the support they need and what they will now get will mean families in almost a third of the country will be more than £100 a month short.

Housing charity Shelter warns that more than 330,000 working families across the country could be affected.

Housing allowance is one of the working age benefits that has been frozen by the Government for the next four years and will hit families in pricey areas hard. By 2020, a family in one of the cheapest homes in Hackney, London would have to make up a £750 monthly shortfall and, in one of the cheapest homes in Manchester or Bristol, over £230 a month.

This comes at a time when the Government’s recent homelessness statistics showed that the primary cause of homelessness now is a loss of private tenancy, which shows just how much renters are already struggling.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “Ordinary families across the country are already fighting an uphill battle to keep up with soaring rents, and this freeze will push thousands even closer to the brink. Hacking away at this vital lifeline for working families is clearly not a solution. If the government genuinely wants to cut the welfare bill, it should focus on building homes that families on lower incomes can actually afford.”

If housing benefit doesn’t cover the rent, a discretionary housing payment could help. For more information, go to www.shelter.org.uk/dhp or call the helpline on 0808 800 4444.