Reforms to the way Housing Benefits are calculated have made life unaffordable for many tenants living in the private rented sector and according to a report in the Guardian this morning that highlighted research commissioned by the government, increasing numbers of landlords are taking the decision to cease renting their properties to tenants on Housing Benefit. London has been particularly badly affected and very few tenants living on benefits can now afford private rental properties as a result.
Obviously reforms to the welfare system are long overdue and it is crazy that some families are able to claim thousands of pounds per week to live in affluent parts of the city. The government hopes that such reforms will provide a greater incentive for people to go out and find work instead of living in benefits, but many families unable to find a job are being forced to cut their expenditure on food and other essentials in order to fund the shortfall in housing benefit and remain in their homes.
Research highlighted in the article points to the fact that many London landlords are simply evicting tenants on housing benefits rather than trying to find a workable solution, and if such a trend is left unchecked, it will inevitably lead to a rise in homelessness in the capital and beyond.
However the government is adamant that Housing Benefit reforms are having very little impact on low-income families and that capping Housing Benefit is “the right and fair thing to do”, although the executive member for housing in the London Council feels slightly different: he described the report’s findings as “worrying”.
