Drastic benefit cut risks rise in rough sleeping

‘Up to 88,000 people at risk of losing

home under housing benefit cut’ – Crisis

Emdad Rahman: Homelessness charity Crisis has published a new national survey that supports its fears that many of the 88,000 people affected by the Government’s latest planned cut in housing benefit could become homeless if the change goes ahead.The Government’s draft regulations to extend the ‘Shared Accommodation Rate’ to 25-34 year-olds, which will see an average cut in housing benefit of £47 a week, and will force many people to move out into unsuitable shared housing, or face homelessness.
Crisis has called for the Government to rethink the proposed change. The charity says this drastic cut in housing benefit will force people out of their homes and in many cases people will become homeless.  The charity says evidence suggests that vulnerable people, including former rough sleepers, are at particularly high risk of being made homeless again, as forcing them to share is inappropriate.
In a survey of housing professionals in local authorities and the voluntary sector published today by the charity;
·  87% of those surveyed said they already have difficulty finding appropriate properties for people currently on the Shared Accommodation Rate  (under 25s)
·  72% said that there is not enough shared accommodation available in their local area
· Around 63% of those surveyed said that there is a higher risk of tenancies breaking down in shared properties
· 95% of front-line housing professionals expressed concerns about the proposed change, including that it will cause increased homelessness, higher costs for local authorities and increase hardship and destitution
The survey supports evidence from the National Landlords Association that most landlords will be unable to accept significant decreases in rent. What’s more, the vast majority of landlords (96%) say that they are not planning to let more shared properties in response to the proposed change.
Commenting on the survey, Crisis Chief Executive Leslie Morphy said:
“Many of the front-line housing professionals we surveyed expect the Government’s proposed cut to result in a rise in street homelessness. Up to 88,000 people are at risk of losing their homes due to this ill-conceived proposal.
“This survey backs Crisis’s view that the changes simply won’t work. Landlords won’t accept lower rent payments. People aged 25-34 will be forced to move out of their homes into shared accommodation that is often unsuitable for their needs or which doesn’t exist.
“The Government says it wants to protect vulnerable people and tackle street homelessness. Yet if it doesn’t rethink this regulation now, we risk turning the clock back years on rough-sleeping.
“It can cost up to £50,000 and dedicated effort from a range of public and voluntary agencies to help a rough sleeper off the streets. Yet all that could be wasted if, having resettled someone into a flat in the private rented sector, they are now uprooted due to this benefit cut and forced to move into a shared house, or worse be made homeless. The cost of exempting a vulnerable single person from this measure will average just £47 a week. “
Crisis is calling for the Government to rethink this punitive cut now and at least exempt vulnerable groups. 25-34 year olds are already disproportionately likely to end up sleeping rough, and make up 34% of Crisis’s clients. The charity is writing to MPs and Government Ministers to share its concerns and the survey’s findings.
On-going research by the Centre for Housing Policy at York University also backs up the findings of the Crisis survey. The research commissioned by Crisis reveals:
· A poor supply of shared accommodation, particularly in industrial and manufacturing areas and some smaller towns
·  Landlords reluctant to let to people with support needs
· Problems for vulnerable people sharing accommodation
· An expectation of a likely increase in evictions if the SAR extension goes through.
In further housing news, residents in Tower Hamlets are losing out under the Tory-led government’s new Housing policy, the New Homes Bonus.The Bonus is supposed to incentivise councils to grant planning permissions for new housing developments by matching council tax for new homes over a six year period.According to the House of Commons Library, the New Homes Bonus is going to cost taxpayers at least £1.2bn a year by 2016 but deliver as few as just 14,000 extra homes a year. Before the budget, Labour called on the government to tax bankers’ bonuses and to spend £1.2bn on delivering 25,000 affordable homes.Experts are already lining up to say that it won’t work and the Tory party’s leaders in local government have gone public with their criticisms. In addition to being expensive and ineffective, research now shows that Tower Hamlets is getting a raw deal from this new Tory policy.Whilst Richmondshire District Council received £6,272 for each extra home in their community, Tower Hamlets will just get £1,598.54 and whilst the City of London has been given £28.51 a head in funding the government has  given Tower Hamlets Council just £19.08 Alison Seabeck MP, Labour’s Shadow Housing Minister said:“The New Homes Bonus is the government’s flagship housing policy but it’s expensive, ineffective and now we can see how unfair it is too.“This country needs more housing and the jobs that go with it. The Tory-led government needs to stop wasting time and money on this policy and get to work delivering more homes.” Local MP Jim Fitzpatrick said:“I think it’s totally wrong that Tower Hamlets should be treated in this way by the Tory-led government. If the point of this policy is to reward communities for building more houses then the least they should do is make it fair.“I want to hear an explanation from this Tory-government why they think that Tower Hamlets should receive less money per new home than some of the best off parts of the country.”