At least 72 families will be left with insufficient housing benefit to meet the average UK rent as a result of George Osborne’s plans to reform the housing benefits system, Islington Now has learnt.
The council’s Communities Review Committee found this week that the £500 per week cap on benefits proposed under the Universal Credit reform will see many households left with almost no money for rent.
Some residents could be left with as little as 50p for rent after other necessary costs are deducted from their £500 limit, the committee said.
Cllr Andy Hull, who chaired the meeting of borough councillors, said: “The government calls it fairness. We call it unfairness.”
A table drawn up by the council showed the amount of money that lone parent and couples with varying numbers of children would be left with after Job Seekers Allowance, Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit was deducted from the £500 per week cap.
The change will mean that 15 single-parent families will be left with only £86 per week for housing – nearly £100 less than the £187 average weekly rent in the UK. An additional 32 couples with children will be left with less than half that amount.
The committee heard evidence from a young mother of three who pays £350 per week for her two bedroom flat and would be left with only £216 per week under Universal Credit.
The woman, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “Unless we can find affordable housing, we’ll have to move. My family and friends are all here and this is the only place we have any real support network.”
“It’s really sad to actually think that we could have to move somewhere further away just because rents are so high.”
As a result of her future loss of benefits, she has been served an eviction notice by her landlord, who cites her financial status as too much of a risk.
“Ideally, I would find some social housing [in Islington],” she said. “But I’ve been on the waiting list for four years now and I’m still not eligible under the points system they use.”
Patrick Odling-Smee, Director of Housing for Islington, said: “The issue here is options. Apart from helping residents to find employment, there is very little the council can do but help people to move to more affordable housing”.
