Shapps Under Attack Over Housing Benefit Provision For Elderly

Housing minister Grant Shapps has defended claims by Age UK that the Government's housing benefit reforms could leave some elderly people on such low incomes their health may be at risk. The charity told the BBC that 80,000 pensioners who rent privately face losing an average of around £12 a week in payments. Age UK fears changes to the way maximum payments are calculated will leave some with less money for food and heating. The coalition government wants to introduce caps ranging from £250 a week for those in a one-bedroom property to £400 for those in a four-bedroom property. Mr Shapps told the BBC's Today programme: "If landlords don't drop their rents there is a discretionary housing fund which at the moment is £10m it's very well targeted and is operated by local authorities. It's going up 14 times to £140m - this is a discretionary housing benefit." Read what the NHF has to say about the budget for the Discretionary Housing Fund here and rest more of what Grant Shapps told the BBC on the 24dash website.