Housing Benefit Reforms to Save £250 Million

The most expensive properties in an area will be excluded from housing benefit calculations as part of a bid to save £250 million a year, the chancellor has said. In his Budget speech Alistair Darling said the current approach to calculating housing benefit means very high rates are paid to a small number of tenants. He said ‘this discourages employment and is unfair’ and the government would introduce measures to combat the problem from October next year. The Budget report says changes to the local housing allowance will save £50 million a year by 2014/15, which are expected to combine with other savings to reduce the annual housing benefit bill by £250 million. Read the full story on the Inside Housing website.