'Punitive' Housing Benefit Cuts Risk 'Uprooting Lifelong Tenants'

Tens of thousands of people in London may be forced to leave their lifelong homes under Government plans to penalise 'under-occupying' households by cutting their housing benefit, the National Housing Federation (NHF) has warned. The Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) intends to use the Welfare Reform Bill to slash housing benefit nationally for 670,000 working-age tenants in Great Britain deemed to be living in a social home too large for their needs - even if they have lived there for decades. The DWP has suggested that affected households should either "move to accommodation which better reflects the size and composition of their household" or make up the shortfall by finding income from other sources. But the DWP’s own impact assessment admits that there is a "mismatch" between available properties in the social sector and household size - suggesting many people would see a cut in their housing benefit with no prospect of being able to move to a smaller home. Read more on 24dash.