Sue Robb of 4Children talks to Julie Laughton and Alison Britton from the Department for Education about the role of childminders in delivering the 30 hours free entitlement.
New analysis by London Councils shows a significant reduction in the number of homes affordable to Londoners receiving Local Housing Allowance (LHA) over the past four years.
London Councils has calculated that below 15 per cent of private sector rents across the capital are covered by LHA rates. People who are eligible for LHA receive it as part of their housing benefit or Universal Credit payment to cover their housing costs if they have a private landlord. In areas such as Outer South West London, not a single property is affordable for single claimants looking for a room in a shared house.
Additionally, 45 per cent of the almost 200,000 low-income London households claiming LHA for private sector properties do not receive enough housing benefit to cover their rent. Such households face an average shortfall of £50.71 per week, with households trying to bridge the gap through cutting back on essential spending and facing rent arrears, putting them in danger of becoming homeless.
Boroughs believe that the trend of overcrowding is due to the lack of affordable accommodation at an appropriate size. In total, 19 per cent of claimants across the capital live in properties with fewer bedrooms than they are entitled to – with this rising to a third of claimants in some areas.
The organisation is urging the government to boost LHA so that claimants can afford at least the lowest 30 per cent of local market rents. Boroughs believe this would help prevent homelessness for thousands of Londoners, while reducing the wider costs to the public sector that homelessness creates.
Muhammed Butt, London Councils’ executive member for welfare, empowerment and inclusion, said: “The counterproductive LHA freeze is fuelling London’s skyrocketing rates of homelessness. Keeping LHA frozen during a period of fast-rising rents has made private renting in the capital increasingly unaffordable. The resulting pressures on household finances are immense and a crucial factor in the increase in homelessness, with the number of homeless households in London 50 per cent higher at the end of 2017/18 compared to 2010/11.
“Bringing LHA back up so that claimants could afford at least 30 per cent of local housing in the private rented sector would significantly improve accommodation options for Londoners and would represent a big step forward in tackling homelessness in the capital.”
Greg Beales, campaign director at Shelter, said: “When housing benefit is so low that people are having to find over £50 of week to cover even the lowest rents, they face grim decisions between food, electric bills and keeping a roof over their head.
“The problem isn’t just confined to London, there is a gap between LHA and the bottom third of rents in 97 per cent of areas across the country. The benefits freeze is pricing people out of anywhere to call home, and directly stoking the homelessness crisis. We urge the government to lift the freeze and raise housing benefit so it can actually cover rent, or we will keep seeing people pushed into poverty and homelessness as a result.”
Sue Robb of 4Children talks to Julie Laughton and Alison Britton from the Department for Education about the role of childminders in delivering the 30 hours free entitlement.
Fireco is a one-stop shop for trusted and compliant fire safety solutions! Our comprehensive product range includes smart fire door closers and retainers, notification systems, as well as fire door installation and inspection services. With our cloud-based technology, we offer the convenience of remote monitoring and management of connected devices, ensuring efficient and effective fire safety measures. By choosing Fireco, you can trust that our solutions are tailored to meet complex compliance requirements and provide you with peace of mind.
UKREiiF has quickly become a must-attend in the industry calendar for Government departments and local authorities.
The organisers of the world’s largest dedicated hydrogen event, World Hydrogen 2024 Summit & Exhibition have announced it’s return to Rotterdam in May 2024, with an expansion of a whole extra summit day. Sustainable Energy Council (SEC) are partnering with the Government of the Netherlands, the Province of Zuid-Holland, the City of Rotterdam, and the Port of Rotterdam to host an extended, larger scale Summit in 2024, to expand the event to meet the surging demand.
At GeoEnergy Design, we're on a mission to disrupt the traditional way heating and cooling ha
Professor Harith Alani, director of the Knowledge Management Institute at the Open University explains how AI can be used for good and bad.
Alex Lawrence, head of health & social care, techUK sets out techUK’s Five Point Plan for CareTech.