Unaffordable rents – arranged by Tories – are pushing low-income families towards homelessness
Nine out of every 10 homes for rent are too expensive for families on housing benefit or the equivalent, Local Housing Allowance – according to the National Housing Federation.
The report finds that 94 per cent of private rental properties are unaffordable for families on Housing Benefit, or the equivalent Local Housing Allowance (LHA).
It also found that 65 per cent of the families affected are in work – proving once again that the Tory mantra that “work is the best way out of poverty” is utter claptrap while they remain in office.
LHA was initially designed to cover the bottom 50 per cent of market rents – in any area. This was reduced to 30 per cent in 2011, after the Tory-led Coalition government came into power (with help from the Liberal Democrats). Rates were divorced from market rents altogether in 2013, and frozen in 2016.
One can only conclude that this was done to price benefit-dependent families out of the market. In the least-affordable parts of the UK – southern and eastern England – only one per cent of privately-rented properties are affordable to those on LHA.
Analysis of data on private rental listings found that:
- Only 7.54% of rental properties advertised in England are affordable to LHA claimants.
- “Family-sized” properties, i.e. those with two or more bedrooms, are even less affordable, with only 6.5% being affordable at the relevant LHA rate.
- Southern and Eastern parts of England are the least affordable areas.
- In 2011, LHA was set to the 30th percentile of rents within Broad Rental Market Areas, meaning that claimants should have been able to afford 30% of the rental market in each BRMA. In 2019, the median percentage of the rental market that is affordable within a BRMA is only 5.9%.
- Only 2.75% of rooms within shared accommodation are affordable at LHA. The shared accommodation rate is usually the only LHA rate that single people aged under 35 may claim.
The National Housing Federation has drawn the obvious conclusion – that Tory policies have pushed homelessness to record levels – and are pushing children into overcrowded and poor quality accommodation, like shipping containers and converted office blocks.
The organisation is demanding that the government LHA payments to cover at least the lowest-costing 30 per cent of privately-rented homes again. It also wants a £12.8 billion annual investment in building new social housing.
I think we all know what’s likely to happen about that: Nothing.
You can read the full briefing here.
Have YOU donated to my crowdfunding appeal, raising funds to fight false libel claims by TV celebrities who should know better? These court cases cost a lot of money so every penny will help ensure that wealth doesn’t beat justice.
Vox Political needs your help!
If you want to support this site
(but don’t want to give your money to advertisers)
you can make a one-off donation here:
Here are four ways to be sure you’re among the first to know what’s going on.
1) Register with us by clicking on ‘Subscribe’ (in the left margin). You can then receive notifications of every new article that is posted here.
2) Follow VP on Twitter @VoxPolitical
3) Like the Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/VoxPolitical/
Join the Vox Political Facebook page.
4) You could even make Vox Political your homepage at http://voxpoliticalonline.com
And do share with your family and friends – so they don’t miss out!
If you have appreciated this article, don’t forget to share it using the buttons at the bottom of this page. Politics is about everybody – so let’s try to get everybody involved!
Buy Vox Political books so we can continue
fighting for the facts.
The Livingstone Presumption is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
Health Warning: Government! is now available
in either print or eBook format here:
The first collection, Strong Words and Hard Times,
is still available in either print or eBook format here:
One of my nagging worries is that , when Johnson crashes us out of Europe, the European court of human rights will no longer be accessible to our population. Will the real truth then dawn on the leave voters as Boris law deals with our rights in the worst way possible? Are we returning to the way of life that we had as peasants being trampled beneath the hooves of the graball rich?
No chance of us being unable to access the ECHR after leaving the EU because it has nothing to do with the EU. Are you thinking of the European Court of Justice?
I am very sad and angry. Many low paid workers are affe
I have looked at private rental properties, another issue is the credit checks that most people have to go through. I am being evicted next Wednesday and even if you actually find something affordable, if like me, you have utility arrears, you fail the credit checks meaning even less chance of finding a home.
And Stockport Homes are advising unemployed people to “save up” rent money in preparation of going on to Universal Credit, which of course is an impossible task given the amount of rents and the fact that people are already living hand-to-mouth:
https://www.katebelgrave.com/2019/09/save-up-for-rent-before-youre-switched-to-universal-credit-coz-you-wont-get-money-for-6-weeks/