Sowerby Bridge News

Kirklees & Calderdale Face Homelessness Crisis

New figures reveal the full impact that cuts to housing benefit will have on people in Yorkshire and the Humber. Thousands of people in the region face debt and homelessness if the Government goes ahead with planned cuts, warns Crisis, the national charity for single homeless people.

The Government announced cuts of £1.8bn to housing benefit in its emergency Budget soon after coming to power. According to an impact assessment by the Department of Work and Pensions, every one of the 87,310 households in the region reliant on Local Housing Allowance (LHA)—the form of housing benefit paid to tenants in the Private Rented Sector—will be affected. On average, claimants in Yorkshire and the Humber will see their LHA cut by £9 per week, or £468 per year.

“These shocking figures show that tens of thousands of families will be badly hit by the Government’s plans on housing benefit.”

These cuts will leave tenants falling into rent arrears and increasing debt or being forced to leave their homes and at worst becoming homeless.

For people living in one bed properties, those in York, Calderdale, Kirklees and Bradford will be especially badly affected. In York and Selby, those living in one bedroom flats will have their support cut by £676 per year, while in Kirklees those in one bed flats will see a £624 cut.

Although the impact of the cuts on individual claimants is somewhat smaller in Bradford (£468 per 1 bed flat), the cuts to homes of all sizes will affect 10,470 households in the city, the largest total in the region. Similarly, the cuts in Leeds of £364 per 1 bed flat are not the highest, but 15,610 households in the city will be affected by the cuts to homes of all sizes, the worst for any area apart from London and Birmingham.

The numbers of households of all sizes affected in York, Calderdale and Kirklees are as follows:

1900 households in York
4140 households in Calderdale
6500 households in Kirklees

Leslie Morphy, Chief Executive of Crisis, said:
“The Government promised that in cutting the deficit it would protect the most vulnerable, but these figures show that thousands of those who are in greatest need will have their income hit when they can least afford it.

“As vulnerable private tenants see their income slashed they will inevitably fall into rent arrears or debt and face the spectre of homelessness. The Government must totally rethink these cuts now.

“Not only would a surge in homelessness cause damage for generations to come in Yorkshire and the Humber, it is also counter-productive. The costs to society of somebody who has lost their home are huge compared to keeping someone in accommodation.”

Shadow Work and Pension Secretary Yvette Cooper MP commented on Crisis’ findings:

“These shocking figures show that tens of thousands of families will be badly hit by the Government’s plans on housing benefit.

“They include savage cuts for working people and pensioners who won’t be able to afford their rent and will push people into poverty and homelessness, which will damage our communities and cost us all more in the long run.”