18th June 2012
Landlords in London are more likely to evict tenants or not renew tenancy agreements than landlords in other parts of the country as a result of Housing Benefit changes, new research shows.
Independent analysis of the early impact of Housing Benefit reforms on both landlords and tenants found that:
The research - Monitoring the Impact of Changes to the Local Housing Allowance System of Housing Benefit: Summary of Early Findings - was led by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University.
It was commissioned by the Government and carried out last autumn - several months after the measures had been introduced for new Housing Benefit claimants but before the impact was felt by existing claimants.
25th June 2012
David Cameron's welfare benefit speech has sparked considerable debate - not least concerning Housing Benefit. The following is an extract from his speech:
This is the vision for working-age welfare and it follows from this that we need to think harder about who receives it.
If it is a real safety net, then clearly it's principally for people who have no other means of support, or who have fallen on hard times.
But there are many receiving today who do not necessarily fall into these camps.
For example, the state spends almost £2billion a year on Housing Benefit for under-25s.
There are currently 210,000 people aged 16-24 who are social housing tenants.
Some of these young people will genuinely have nowhere else to live - but many will.
And this is happening when there is a growing phenomenon of young people living with their parents into their 30s because they can't afford their own place - almost 3 million between the ages of 20 and 34.
So for literally millions, the passage to independence is several years living in their childhood bedroom as they save up to move out.
While for many others, it's a trip to the council where they can get Housing Benefit at 18 or 19 - even if they're not actively seeking work.
There is a link to the full speech in the Welfare Benefits section of this edition of the Housing Monthly Diary.
