Social Rented Housing: Housing Benefit – Parliamentary Written Answer

Stephen Timms:  To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average reduction in benefits was for claimants subject to the under-occupancy penalty in each of the last three financial years.

Justin Tomlinson: The average weekly reduction for claimants subject to the Removal of the Spare Room Subsidy for each of the last three financial years was as follows:

• £14.42 in 2013/14;

• £14.92 in 2014/15; and

• £15.25 in 2015/16.

Labour Claims Bedroom Tax Is 'Costing London's Poor £50m a Year'

The “bedroom tax” is squeezing more than £50 million a year from London’s poorest families, Labour has said. Unveiling new figures about the Coalition’s most controversial benefits reform, shadow welfare minister Helen Goodman said the average London family affected would lose £1,060 a year. Some 48,247 families in the capital have had benefits reduced because they have more rooms than they are deemed to need. But Labour said claimants cannot easily move to smaller flats because of waiting lists, meaning they end up without enough money to make ends meet. The figures show that Londoners lose more cash than people in any other region because of high rents. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Benefit Cap Affects Nearly 33,000 British Households

Nearly 33,000 households have had their benefit capped in the first seven months of the policy. The DWP has published details showing the impact of the £26,000-a-year total household benefits cap. The DWP statistics show 32,940 had their benefits reduced at some point between 15 April and 21 November. A total of 27,352 households were affected by the cap in November. The vast majority of these, 95 per cent, were households with children, with 22,357, 82 per cent, having three children or more. More than half of the affected households, 16,174, were single parents. Download the statistics from the DWP website.