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Welfare reforms ‘forcing Londoners onto streets’, claims Khan

Welfare reforms are “forcing Londoners onto the streets”, the capital’s mayor Sadiq Khan has said.

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Picture: Getty
Picture: Getty
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Welfare reforms ‘forcing Londoners onto streets’, claims Khan #ukhousing

Mr Khan said analysis by his staff showed that cuts to housing-related benefits had directly led to overcrowding, rent arrears, evictions and homelessness.

Drivers also included the freeze of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA), the introduction of the benefit cap and the removal of the spare-room subsidy, commonly called the bedroom tax.

The analysis also showed that private renters claiming housing benefit would receive an average of £1,400 less a year by 2020/21 than they would had LHA rates kept pace with rents since 2010.

Figures varied across London, but reached £3,950 in the inner east and north areas.

Over the same period, households subject to the benefit cap faced a shortfall of £5,450 and those hit by the bedroom tax received £1,050 less on average.

Meanwhile, the average rent for a two-bedroom private rented home in London was £6,600 a year higher in 2018/19 than in 2010/11.


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Mr Khan said Universal Credit had erected further barriers to claimants maintaining a secure, long-term tenancy because it took longer than before for claimants to receive support – making landlords reluctant to accept them as tenants.

He added: “The government’s introduction of Universal Credit has been an unmitigated disaster and should be stopped before it forces any more Londoners onto the streets.

“This report sets out in stark detail the brutal impact of nearly a decade of welfare cuts on the lives of Londoners.

“Whilst it is the actions of central government that are causing the rise in rough sleeping, it’s London that is left to pick up the bill. That’s why these draconian cuts must be reversed immediately.”

Inside Housing research has previously found evidence that Universal Credit is pushing people into homelessness.

Mr Khan repeated his calls for ministers to halt the roll-out of Universal Credit and to give him powers to impose rent controls that “Londoners so urgently need”.

The mayor last July called for reforms to tenancy laws, including the introduction of these powers and open-ended tenancies.

Dan Wilson Craw, director of Generation Rent, said: “Without a reliable housing benefit system, Londoners on low incomes are getting into debt, going without food and heating or being forced to move out of neighbourhoods they grew up in.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “More than 355,000 people in London are successfully receiving Universal Credit and getting personalised benefit support and 80% of claimants are satisfied with their experience.

“Universal Credit is a force for good, and it is now being delivered in every jobcentre in the UK, with 95% of payments being made in full and on time.

“This year the government increased more than 360 Local Housing Allowance rates, by targeting extra funding at low-income households.”

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