Housing benefit cuts will hit over 5,000 homes in Lambeth
The government’s planned cuts in housing benefit will hit 5,470 households in Lambeth according to new figures obtained by the office of Chuka Umunna MP, with many facing the possibility of being forced out of their homes.
The Liberal Democrat – Conservative government announced cuts to the Local Housing Allowance in June’s Budget, which applies to those on low incomes living in private rented homes. Claimants’ entitlement will reduce from 50 per cent of local rent levels to 30 per cent, while a new maximum allowance will be applied.
Because property prices and rent levels are higher in inner London than elsewhere, the cuts will have a disproportionate affect on areas like Lambeth and it is feared that they could lead to many being forced to leave the area entirely.
In Lambeth, 1,520 two-bedroom properties will see their housing allowance fall by an average of £25 a week – totaling £1,300 a year.
Commenting on the changes, David Orr, Chief Executive of the National Housing Federation said:“The housing benefit caps could see poorer people effectively forced out of wealthier areas, and ghettoised into poorer neighbourhoods.
“Some people affected by housing benefit caps may successfully find a home in cheaper areas, but many will end up in expensive bed and breakfast accommodation, while thousands will simply become homeless. Unless ministers urgently reconsider these punitive housing benefit cuts, we may see more people sleeping rough than at any stage during the last thirty years.”
Chuka Umunna MP said: “The government’s housing benefit cuts for those living in private rented accommodation are grossly unfair and, as these new figures show, will disproportionately affect areas like ours and many of my constituents.
“I am deeply concerned that people in Lambeth will be made homeless or forced to leave the area as a result.
“The Lib Dem Tory coalition government said it would implement public spending cuts in a way which would not heavily hit the poor and vulnerable – it is doing precisely the opposite with these measures.”
