Minister: benefit cap will cause 'casualties'

Welfare reform calendar 2011 – 2013

The Welfare Reform Bill is about to receive royal assent and will radically alter the benefits system. Now the government has beaten the Lords, Carl Brown explains why it is important that landlords prepare for the changes

At crisis point

As waiting lists get longer, councils are increasingly dependent on emergency accommodation to house people. But as one tenant tells Carl Brown, life can be hell for the residents.

Master of the universal

Lord David Freud is behind the biggest shake-up of the welfare system since World War Two. Here, in his first in-depth interview, he reveals the motives behind his radical reforms to Carl Brown

Setting the record straight

An exclusive survey of more than 200 councils reveals Mr Cameron spoke out of turn when he claimed private rents were dropping. Carl Brown reports

Struggles ahead

Missing contractual targets

Housing benefit caps could put landlords providing rent collection services at financial risk says, David Isaacson, director at Cobbetts

A force for good

Council housing self financing has begun, but what will the new era bring? Steve Partridge examines the possibilities

Fielding opposition

Proposed legislation on registration of village greens would reduce risk to developers. Eollyn Ives, solicitor in the property team at Devonshires Solicitors, explains

The legal aid lifeline

Cuts to legal aid and new spending restrictions mean tens of thousands of tenants will no longer be eligible for free housing advice. Jess McCabe visits a law centre to investigate the likely impact of the changes

Going spare

The government’s contentious ‘bedroom tax’ on under-occupying tenants is set to become law this month. Alex Turner looks at the disproportionate effect it’s likely to have in the north