Nine In 10 Homes Unaffordable For Families

The benefit freeze is pushing low income families to the brink, with more than nine in ten homes for private rent (94%) too expensive for those on housing benefit. And new NHF research reveals two thirds of these families (65%) are in work. Now, NHF is calling on the government to:

·         End the freeze and increase LHA payments so that they cover at least the bottom 30% of private rent homes in any local area

·         Commit to investing £12.8bn annually in building new social housing, so that fewer families have to depend on unaffordable and insecure privately rented accommodation

Read more on 24housing.

https://www.24housing.co.uk/news/housing-benefit-freeze-means-9-in-10-homes-unaffordable-for-families/

Over Eight Million People In England ‘Directly Hit’ By Housing Crisis

More than eight million people in England – around one in seven – are living in unaffordable, insecure or unsuitable homes, according to a new report by the National Housing Federation (NHF). In the first of its kind, the State of the Nation report captures exactly how many people are hit by different aspects of the housing crisis, including high house prices and rents, unsuitable or poor-quality homes, and the overall shortage of new homes. As outlined, more than 3.6 million people are living in overcrowded homes, while 2.5 million people can’t afford their rent or mortgage. Download a summary of the report from the NHF website.

http://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/img.housing.org.uk/NHF_Briefing_How_many_people_need_a_social_rented_home_FINAL.pdf

Private Rental Sector Insecurity 'Causes Surge In Homelessness'

"Chronic" insecurity in the private rented sector in England has led to a fourfold increase since 2010 in the number of households forced into homelessness when tenancies end. Loss of a private tenancy is now the leading cause of homelessness in England, with the 16,000 households affected making up around a third of the 54,000 accepted as homeless by councils in 2014/15, the annual Homelessness Monitor by the charity Crisis and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) found. They warned that local authorities were "struggling to cope" with rising numbers of single homeless people, with 88% saying they often or sometimes find it difficult to help those aged 25-35 and 87% those aged 18-24. Two-thirds of English councils reported that changes to the welfare system under the coalition government from 2010-15 had increased homelessness in their area. Read more on the BT website.