Housing benefit cap would lower rents
I feel you missed an opportunity in your study of Elsayed Ward (Inside Housing, 16 July). Mr Ward’s circumstances are clearly very difficult, but it would have been helpful to understand more about his situation. With three children (one of whom is now an adult), he should be entitled to a three-bedroom home.
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A brief internet search reveals homes available in Hammersmith & Fulham, close to where he now lives, well within the £340 per week limit available to him under the local housing allowance. If Mr Ward is likely to be affected by the local housing allowance cap, it would be helpful to understand why.
The What’s the Benefit? campaign is a noble one, but there are arguments in favour of the government’s proposals and I would like to see them addressed. The market for rented housing is surely distorted by housing benefits. This affects all renters. A cap may encourage prices to fall.
David Waddell, finance and audit board member, Poplar Housing and Regeneration Community Association (writing in a personal capacity)