Changes to council housing tenancies could lead to homelessness
4 August 2010
Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people, has responded to proposed Government reform to social housing tenancies.
Leslie Morphy, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: "We welcome increased flexibility for social tenants who need to move as their circumstances change or so that they can access work or training opportunities.
"We are, however, concerned at changing tenancy agreements for social housing. This is likely to have the worst impact on the many vulnerable people in social housing for whom the stability it provides is really critical. What's more these changes could penalise social tenants who move into employment and act as a real disincentive to work.
"Removing the stability that social housing offers against a background of extensive cuts to housing benefit will ultimately make it even harder for people to move from the social sector to the private rented sector, particularly in London, and could ultimately lead to an increase in homelessness."
For further media information or request an interview with Crisis spokespeople, please contact Garry Lemon at Crisis on 020 7426 5652 or 07973 372 587 or garry.lemon:@crisis.org.uk
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Notes to editors
*Several cuts have been announced. Housing benefit in the private rented sector (local housing allowance) is currently calculated at the mid-point of the local market, The Government has proposed caps to LHA rates and that it will now be calculated on the bottom 30th percentile of rents in a given area. They will also link the uprating of benefits to the Consumer Prices Index (instead of the local housing market as currently), and cut by 10% housing benefit for those who have been claiming Jobseekers' Allowance for more than a year.
The impact assessment regarding these and other changes proposed by the Government can be found here:
http://www.dwp.gov.uk/docs/impacts-of-hb-proposals.pdf
Background on Crisis
Crisis is the national charity for single homeless people. We are dedicated to ending homelessness by delivering life-changing services and campaigning for change. Our innovative education, employment, housing and well-being services address individual needs and help people to transform their lives. We are determined campaigners, working to prevent people from becoming homeless and advocating solutions informed by research and our direct experience. We have ambitious plans for the future and are committed to help more people in more places across the UK. We know we won't end homelessness overnight or on our own. But we take a lead, collaborate with others and, together, make change happen.
