The Benefit Cap Tackles a Real Problem from the Wrong End

A cap on the total amount of benefits that people receive begins rolling out across England, Wales and Scotland today. The problem is that the cap tackles a real problem from the wrong end. Taxpayers are often not subsidising claimants at all, but rather handing large sums of money to private landlords.  Today, a new report came out detailing how a third of Britain is now effectively off-limits to lower income families because of the increasing cost of rent. This being the case, it shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that the benefits bill has also been increasing – the key point which the government has seemingly missed is that the state is subsidising landlords, rather than tenants.  Read more on the Left Foot Forward blog.