Recent changes to the way Housing Benefit is paid to younger claimants means that many young and often vulnerable people are being forced to look for accommodation in shared housing.
Changes to Housing Benefit
The way things currently stand is that a single person aged 35 and under can only claim Housing Benefit for a room in a shared house (the upper limit used to be 25). Unfortunately, because of new planning rules, many landlords are turning away from HMOs, which is causing a squeeze on shared housing in a lot of areas. Also, research undertaken by housing charity, Crisis, has found that in some cases young professionals on a higher income are taking up what rooms are still available.
This is backed up by further research carried out by the RLA. The results of a survey of RLA members revealed that 50 per cent believed that there are not enough shared homes to provide accommodation now that changes have been made to the benefits system. The result of these changes is that many vulnerable young people are being forced into unsuitable accommodation, notably ‘beds in sheds’ operated by unscrupulous landlords.
What is the Solution?
The RLA is calling for a review of Article 4 directions.
“The RLA is calling on ministers to review urgently the impact that Article 4 Directions used by many local authorities are having on the supply of shared homes. Without this, there is a very real danger that many potentially vulnerable tenants could find themselves being driven into the kind of beds in sheds accommodation that is simply unacceptable for anyone to find themselves living in.”
