Housing benefit

Housing benefit is vital in supporting people with their housing costs and in ensuring people's housing stability. Crisis has long called for reform of housing benefit to better support housing stability and to remove barriers to work. However, the cuts proposed in the recent budget and the Comprehensive Spending Review will not achieve these ends, will adversely affect some of the most disadvantaged in society and are likely to lead to an increase in homelessness.

In addition, the Government's Welfare Reform Bill introduces a Universal Credit, with the aim of simplifying welfare, lifting people out of poverty and making sure work always pays. Whilst Crisis supports these aims, and has been campaigning for such changes for many years, we are concerned about how the housing element of Universal Credit will be calculated.

Shared Accommodation Rate campaign

Crisis have been campaigning against a potential benefit cut that will lead to tens of thousands of 25 to 34 year-olds becoming homeless. Whilst some exemptions have recently been announced, we remain very disappointed that the Government is going ahead with this damaging cut.  

• Find out more about our Shared Accommodation Rate campaign and the Government's exemptions

Crisis campaign on other housing benefit cuts

• Find out how to get involved in our campaigns.
• Read our Myth Busting leaflet, launched at the 2010 party conferences.
• Read our policy briefing on housing benefit cuts.
• Read recent Crisis news stories about our housing benefit campaign.
• Read our response to the Work and Pensions select committee enquiry into the impact of the changes to housing benefit.
• We have worked with other major homelessness organisations to write letters to Grant Shapps MP, Minister for Housing (see the letter here) Lord Freud, Welfare Reform Minister (see the letter here) and to all MPs (see the letter here).

See media reports on our campaign against housing benefit cuts

• "Don't be taken in by housing benefit bunk" in Society Guardian
• "This benefit cut will hit the poorest" in Guardian's Comment is Free
• "Housing cuts will hit the poor hardest" in The Mirror
• "Spending review 2010: public services experts on the coalition's plans" in The Guardian
• "The political - and human - costs of housing benefit reform" in The Spectator.

Past campaigns on housing benefit cuts

Crisis has been campaigning for reform to the housing benefit system for some time.

• Read about our Housing Benefits, Not Barriers campaign.
• Our Housing Benefit Survey, published last year, sheds light on the problems facing claimants in finding accommodation and getting back into work.

Private Rented Sector campaigns

Crisis also campaigns on the Private Rented Sector. Read about our work here.