ao link
Twitter
Facebook
Linked In
Twitter
Facebook
Linked In

You are viewing 1 of your 1 free articles

LHA cap 'would lock 84% of young renters out of market in South East'

The government’s plans to cap housing benefit at Local Housing Allowance (LHA) levels would lock 84% of young people in low-paid, insecure jobs out of all housing options in the South East.

Linked InTwitterFacebookeCard

This is the warning from research by Sheffield Hallam University for the Consortium of Associations in the South East (CASE).

CASE members said the government should reconsider using the shared accommodation rate as the maximum level for housing benefit for under-35s.

Instead, it should give associations and local authorities the freedoms and flexibilities to continue to meet the housing needs of this group, the report said.

Researchers said in their report Capping Aspiration: the Millennial Housing Challenge that some 84% of people aged under 35 in the South East would be affected when benefits are capped from April 2019.

Jobseekers aged under 25 would then have, on average, just £2.79 a week to live on after rent. Those on low and middle incomes would also be affected.

The report noted that 51% of people aged under 35 already cannot afford even the region’s cheapest private rents, a proportion that rises to 76% for those aged under 25.

The shared accommodation rate was intended to match the lowest 30% of market rents for shared accommodation but CASE noted a recent Chartered Institute of Housing analysis had found that the real benchmark was nearer to the lowest 10%.

Ann Santry, chief executive of Sovereign Housing Association and chair of CASE, said: “The shared accommodation rate, along with the constraints placed on housing associations and local authorities, is putting even social housing, which is supposed to be there when we need it most, out of reach for this group.”

Other CASE members are: Amicus Horizon, L&Q, Moat, Paradigm, Radian, Thames Valley Housing Association, the Guinness Partnership, the Hyde Group, and West Kent Housing Association.


READ MORE

Sector calls on government to delay supported housing changesSector calls on government to delay supported housing changes

Linked InTwitterFacebookeCard
Add New Comment
You must be logged in to comment.