Council to Sell Empty Homes for £1 to Tenants Hit By Housing Benefit Cuts

Stoke-on-Trent City Council wants to offer loans of £30,000 to families hit by housing benefit cuts to refurbish empty homes which it will sell to them for £1.  The measure is part of a move by the council to support tenants hit by welfare reform, bring back into use empty homes and promote home ownership. From next April some 660,000 working age claimants will face housing benefit cuts of £56 a month on average for having “spare” bedrooms. In addition to the under-occupancy penalties, a household benefit cap will also apply limiting families to £500 a week. The council is match-funding £1.5m of the Government’s empty homes funding with £1.5m from its own capital allowance to get the scheme up and running. Read more on 24dash.