Crisis campaign success
10 December 2009
Crisis welcomes the Government announcement in the Pre Budget Report that it will delay and review a proposal which would have seen some of the poorest tenants losing up to £15 a week.
Crisis launched its Poor choice: stop cuts to the poorest campaign to oppose a Government proposal to changes in the rules for private tenants receiving housing benefit, which it feared would lead to debt problems, rent arrears and, in the worst cases, homelessness.
Read our response to the original Government proposal.
Now the Government has announced in the pre-budget report (PBR) that it will delay the proposal until April 2011 and launch an immediate consultation on its approach to Housing Benefit reform and affordability. Crisis applauds the Government for listening to Crisis' campaign and concern over this measure.
Crisis also welcomes some other measures in the PBR which will help the poorest and homeless during the recession, such as a 1.5% increase in benefits and tax credits, and consultation on increasing the capacity of the private rented sector.
However, we are concerned about Government proposals to find savings from many social programmes. In particular we are worried about the Government's intention to save £300m from adult skills budgets at a time when support for adult learning is more vital than ever to equip people to survive in a very challenging jobs market. Crisis is committed to providing learning and skills as a route out of homelessness for our clients.
We are also disappointed that new money on housing is focused on extending support to first time buyers rather than expanding social rented stock.
Chief executive of Crisis, Leslie Morphy said: "We are pleased that the Government has listened to concerns and Crisis' campaign and reversed its intention to make changes to Local Housing Allowance that would have hit some of the poorest hardest. It is vital that the Government now brings forward real proposals for wider reform to the Housing Benefit system to ensure that it really supports the transition to work, that work always pays and to promote housing stability"
"We understand that the Government wants to bring down the deficit. But it should remember that it's the poorest who are suffering the most in a recession not of their making. They should not pay the highest price when cuts have to be made."
Background
The Crisis Poor choice: stop cuts to the poorest opposed a Government proposal to change Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rules. It would have meant that the private tenants receiving LHA - a form of housing benefit introduced in April 2008 for tenants in the private sector - would no longer be able to shop around and keep up to £15 a week where they find a property cheaper than the allowance. This cut would have meant some of the poorest tenants, who are already struggling on very low incomes, would suddenly lose up to £15 a week. This reduction could be as much as 20% of income for the poorest tenants.
Crisis warned in our response to Government firstly that this could have led to increases in debt, rent arrears and, in the worst cases, homelessness. Moreover, such a cut is unlikely to generate the cost savings the Government hopes, because claimants would no longer have had an incentive to seek cheaper properties and
