Housing Investment Cut Despite Soaring Housing Benefit Bill

David Cameron has warned “every penny you spend on housing subsidy is money you cannot spend on building houses”. However, a House of Commons Library analysis shows that the Government has in fact been spending more on housing benefit than its predecessors – and less on building houses. A lack of affordable homes is thought to be in part responsible for increases in rents that feed into higher social security costs. Despite Cameron’s warning, housing benefit expenditure grew from £20 billion in the last year of the Labour government to £24.3 billion in 2014/15 under the Coalition. The same analysis found that total Government housing development expenditure has fallen from £11 billion in 2009/10 to just £5 billion in 2013/14 and £6 billion in 2014/15. Read more on the Independent website.