Government plans to increase the amount of benefits which can be withheld from a claimant convicted of a crime could increase evictions, social housing sector experts have warned. Prime Minister David Cameron announced last week that people who fail to pay a court fine following conviction could lose £25 a week from their benefits. Currently courts can ask the Department for Work and Pensions to deduct £5 a week from means-tested benefits, excluding housing benefit. Under new plans, judges could apply for anything up to £25 a week to be deducted from the new universal credit, which includes housing benefit, from April 2013. Warnings were issued that the change could increase rent arrears for landlords and increase homelessness. Read more on Inside Housing.
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