Housing Benefit Cuts: Nearly One Million Households 'To Lose Out'

Almost a million households will each lose around £12 a week under changes to housing benefit announced in the emergency Budget, analysis shows. The TUC said cuts to the local housing allowance will hit almost everyone in private rented housing on the benefit, costing them an average of over £600 a year. TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber said: "This cut in housing benefit will make a real difference to some of our poorest and most vulnerable families, and will affect nearly one million households. The Chancellor promised not to hide any hard choices from the British people or bury them in the small print of the Budget documents, but this is another reminder that we are very definitely not all in this together. While the rich have been let off, families are being left to pick up the cost of the recession." A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: "It's not right that some families on benefits are able to live in smart areas, which most working families cannot afford, and cannot maintain when they move into work. Read more on the 24dash website.