LHA Cuts to Lead to 'Benefit Ghettos'

Plans for a tough new local housing allowance regime risk plunging people into arrears and creating benefit ghettos, delegates at the CIH conference have warned. As part of a package of reforms to the housing benefit system, local housing allowance, which is paid to private renters, will be limited to between £280 and £400 a week depending on property size. Housing benefit will also be cut by 10 per cent for those who have received jobseekers allowance for more than a year. Sue Witherspoon, head of housing at Havering Council, said several authorities in the capital have no private rents below the cap. She said: ‘The implication for a borough like Havering is we will have a flood of people moving in because of the lower costs. ‘It will lead to a ghettoisation of benefit claimants.’ Read more on the Inside Housing website.