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Backing the Benefit to Society campaign
Inside Housing is backing the Benefit to Society campaign to improve media portrayals of social tenants, and we want to do our bit to help change the narrative
What image of social housing tenants does the media most commonly give? That they are work-shy and poorly behaved, and that they exploit the benefit system?
A new report published this week by the London School of Economics (LSE) reveals that nine in 10 social tenants feel that the media portrays a stereotype of tenants – and that this is increasingly a challenge for residents’ well-being.
The report was commissioned by Benefit to Society, a campaign set up by housing associations and tenants to try and tackle these damaging narratives, and which Inside Housing is supporting.
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The LSE report cites evidence that 70% of social tenants are in work or retired. Just 7% are unemployed, and the remaining 22% are unable to work.
It points out that the public often overestimates the number of social housing tenants who are unemployed.
The report says the sector has become smaller and more “residualised”, and fewer people have direct experience of social housing as a result – meaning more people see it as a tenure of last choice.
Inside Housing has also long sought to demonstrate that these damaging myths are untrue, and in 2015 we launched a myth-buster website to set the record straight.
We have backed the Benefit to Society campaign from the outset and will help fact-check examples of inaccurate or misleading journalism in the media.
Send examples of damaging, misleading or error-strewn articles to carl.brown@insidehousing.co.uk
Find out more about the campaign here
In the meantime, here are a few myths we tackled back in 2015 through our Housing Myths website:
Our myth-buster website
In 2015 we launched our Housing Myths website to tackle untrue narratives about social housing.
Here are just a few of the myths we busted at the time.
Myth 1: Social housing goes to single mums
Stories about single mothers believed to think the state “owes them a living” are commonplace. Columnists lament the death of ‘respectable families’ living in social housing and blame the ‘points-based’ allocation system, which they says allows single parents to slip ahead in the queue.
How true is this? While it is correct that councils have a legal duty to house homeless families, that does not mean that single mums make up the majority of the country’s housing estates.
According to CORE data (official social housing statistics), only 19% of social lets go to single parents in England.
Having children does not necessarily guarantee that families will receive a social home. Official figures show that at the end of 2014/15, 46,700 families with children or pregnant women were living in temporary accommodation in England.
Myth 2: Everyone receiving housing benefit is unemployed
Despite some of the headlines, the reality for housing benefit recipients is actually very different. An increasing number of working people are having to claim housing benefit to keep up with their rent payments.
According to the 2013/14 English Housing Survey, almost twice the proportion of working households received housing benefit in 2013/14 than in 2008/09.
In 2008/09, 19% of social renters in work received housing benefit, increasing to 32% in 2013/14. For working households in the private rented sector, the proportion increased from 7% to 14% over the same period.
Myth 3: Benefit fraud takes up a large chunk of the welfare bill
In 2013/14, £1.2bn of benefit was lost due to fraud. The total paid out in benefits was £164bn. So benefit fraud made up less than 1% of the overall welfare bill that year.
However, the total amount of cash lost due to fraud will be less than that, as a lot of the money will be recovered by the Department for Work and Pensions.
Myth 4: Immigrants are taking social housing
The idea that large numbers of foreign nationals are taking up social tenancies has been a pervasive message and the tabloid press often calls for stronger curbs.
But are immigrants ‘jumping the queue’ and moving into social housing in their droves? The evidence would suggest not.
According to CORE data, about 90% of social lettings go to UK nationals. Six per cent are let to people inside the European Union and 4% go to those outside the EU.
Benefit to Society
A group of 14 associations and their tenants have got together to challenge common narratives about social housing residents through a campaign called Benefit to Society.
As part of this, the campaign has produced a Fair Press for Tenants guide to help journalists portray social tenants and social housing fairly.
Inside Housing is backing the campaign and will help fact-check and scrutinise articles that portray tenants in a negative light.
Send examples of unfair, misleading or inaccurate reports about social housing tenants to carl.brown@insidehousing.co.uk.
