Tories condemn rise in housing benefit claims
The Conservatives have attacked Labour’s record on welfare reform after figures revealed four in 10 households in London receive housing benefit.
Data obtained by the Conservatives shows the annual cost of housing benefit has risen by £2.7 billion since Labour came to power. In some boroughs such as Hackney, 41.9 per cent of households have their rent paid by housing benefit.
Eighteen per cent of homes nationwide receive an average of £81.03 a week, and nearly half of claims come from households also claiming unemployment benefits.
These figures were published as changes to benefit rules opened the door to 200,000 additional claims for housing and council tax benefits. From this week, income from child benefit will no longer influence decisions on whether low income families are entitled to housing and council tax benefits.
Shadow work and pensions secretary Theresa May said: ‘These are truly shocking figures and once again provide more damning evidence of Labour’s complete failure to tackle welfare reform.
‘Housing benefit can provide valuable help to people in work or pensioners, but the reality is that for too many people it represents part of a broader picture of benefit dependency.’
Work and pensions minister Helen Goodman said: ‘The fact is, housing benefit helps people both in and out of work. More than half of housing benefit recipients are not claiming out of work benefits – and include pensioners and many people who already have jobs.’
Top ten areas receiving housing benefit:
Hackney - 41.9%
Tower Hamlets - 38.1%
Newham - 36.9%
Haringey - 33.9%
Islington - 33.5%
Glasgow City - 31.5%
Lambeth - 30.4%
Manchester - 30.3%
Southwark - 30.1%
Brent - 30.0%
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Readers' comments (22)
Karen | 04/11/2009 9:19 am
I don't know about anyone else but I find the constant political "Labour are to blame/Tories cant do better" not only ridiculous but irritating as hell.
Housing benefit has increased... well its hardly a shocker given the amount of unemployment. How about you stop b**ching about what has done and actually provide some solutions for getting people back into work and off housing benefit?
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Melvin Bone | 04/11/2009 9:34 am
The Government is constantly fiddling with Housing Benefit mainly to its detriment. They seem to be giving it away (literally with the £15 top up!) left right and centre.
The real pain will begin when they realise that there are too many allowances within the current scheme and they have to remove some to reduce the extra cost that Housing Benefit currently has.
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Tom | 04/11/2009 9:43 am
This is the inevitable result of double inflation rent hikes,over recent years,that's why I could never understand the point of them.
I am thinking here of people who work for a low wage, maybe do not get a rise in pay,in a given year,or a very small one, what else are they supposed to do but claim housing benefit.
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Maggz | 04/11/2009 10:58 am
When state benefits were introduced they were intended to prevent people from starving and were a short term safety net. in 2009 the state benefits paid to people are of such a level that households can actually live on them permanently, which gives them no incentive to seek work. What Government needs to do is reduce the benefit payments of those who are able to work but choose not to so that they are forced to seek work. Perhaps then we'll have a return to the work ethic that used to exist in the UK?
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Tom | 04/11/2009 11:22 am
Maggz, Jobseekers Allowance for a single person is £64.30 per week,and that's a level that one can live on permanently is it? don't talk rubbish.
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Mr Pasteur | 04/11/2009 12:16 pm
Maggz is so correct! The existing welfare state is a complete disincentive to find work. I have worked with many tenants who actually received more income when out of work (if you add up JSA or IS and HB and CTB) when they were working full time. It's a complete farce!
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Karen | 04/11/2009 12:29 pm
Its not just JSA.
Council tax credit, child benefit, tax credits, housing benefit... There are a number of "benefits" which some people abuse.
I watched a program about Polish workers coming to the UK because the Brits wouldn't do the farm picking work. They asked people coming out the job centre if they'd take the work at the minimum wage they all said "no, I get more on benefits - I dont want to do that work".
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Joe Halewood | 04/11/2009 1:43 pm
Nice of Theresa May to comment that £350 per calendar month is outrageous - thats almost the cost of one on her shoes isnt it?
Dependency? Blaming Labour - er didnt Thatcher win her first election on "Labour isnt working" poster that showed 1.4m unemployed that she took up to over 3m?
Mr Pasteur - think on your comment. You said "I have worked with many tenants who actually received more income when out of work..." does that mean benefits are too high or payment from work is too low?
JSA of £64.30 per week and HB of £81.03 - £145.33 pw or both in total of £630 pcm. So how much are you paid to work full time and pick up £630 per month? 40 hours per week at minimum wage is just over £1000 pcm gross and this would mean net pay of well above the £630 JSA/HB pcm - So are your tenants working for less than the minimum wage then?
Then again a month of minimum wage work would probably buy Theresa may a pair of shoes (just) - maybe your tenants are making them?
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justsayin | 04/11/2009 2:36 pm
in about 2 million years time (apparently) the red giant star Betelgeuse will explode, bombarding the Earth with deadly radiation. It would be interesting to see how Labour got the blame for that as well.
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Melvin Bone | 04/11/2009 3:40 pm
Joe where do you get your erroneous figures from?
I'm sure Theresa May spends less than that on her Jimmy Choos.
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