Housing Benefit: Withdrawing Entitlement from 18-21 Year Olds

The Government intends to withdraw Housing Benefit entitlement from some 18-21 year olds from April 2017. This briefing considers evidence on the potential impact of withdrawal and provides comment from organisations and those working with young homeless people. Download the briefing from the Parliament website.

Universal Credit Could Make Working Fewer Hours More Attractive

Universal credit is facing significant design problems and needs serious reform if it is to meet its original goal of making work pay for most claimants. A nine-month review, conducted by Resolution Foundation, concluded that for some groups, especially women, universal credit could make reducing the number of hours worked more attractive. It suggests for these groups the fall in their employment earnings would largely be cushioned by the taxpayer.  The report states: “Multiple changes to UC since its conception – some policy-related, some reflecting a lower than originally anticipated budget – have altered both its design and expected impact.” It suggests it would take as much as £3bn to restore the planned UC taper – the rate at which UC is withdrawn as earnings rise – to the level at which tax credits were withdrawn. Read more on the Resolution Foundation website.

Generation Rent Withdraws From Homes for Britain Campaign amid RTB Fallout

Generation Rent has withdrawn from the sector-wide Homes for Britain campaign, saying “the title's great but in reality we believe the strategy is so flawed that it has to date undermined the interests of people suffering the consequences of the housing crisis”. Generation Rent director Alex Hilton had made clear his unhappiness with the campaign but the group's withdrawal will still come as a major surprise to many supporters of the campaign whose “asks were not just weak, but allowed politicians too much political space,” according to Hilton. He later tweeted that “Homes for Britain seems to be undermining pro-housing campaigns. Please help us fix that.”  Read more on the Generation Rent website.