Housing benefits payments in four out of ten North East homes will rise this year – proving to one landlord that “blacklisting benefits tenants is beyond bonkers”
The Department for Work and Pensions this week published the Local Housing Allowance rates – the allowances paid to people claiming housing benefits - which will take effect from April this year.
Part-time workers judged to be doing too little to find full-time work face having their benefit for housing costs sanctioned by the government for the first time under universal credit.
Under the present system housing benefit is paid direct to landlords and sanctions can only be applied to out-of-work benefits, such as jobseeker’s allowance or employment support allowance.
The average London rent is now 102 per cent more than the national average, according to analysis released today.
According to BM Solutions, the average rent in the capital is now £1,417 per month whereas the national average is £701.
The average rental income for a landlord in London has reached an extraordinary £38,000 per year with a yield of an equally amazing 14.6 per cent, according to research from LSL Property Services.
These figures dwarf typical incomes for landlords in every other region of the UK in LSL's latest Buy To let index which shows - outside of the capital - very mixed results.
A daily average of 356 Londoners claiming Jobseeker's Allowance saw their benefits sanctioned in the year to September 2013, government figures have revealed.
The statistics, compiled by London Assembly Green Party member Jenny Jones, reveal that twice as many were sanctioned last year than in mayor Boris Johnson's first year in office.
Tens of thousands of people claiming housing benefit have been forced to “take action” and find work or move to a smaller home because of the so-called “bedroom tax”, Iain Duncan Smith has said.
Figures released by the Government show a 9 per cent fall in the number of housing benefit claimants facing a reduction in their housing benefit due to the removal of the spare room subsidy.
Two thirds of households affected by the bedroom tax cannot find money to pay their rents, according to the National Housing Federation.
A survey of 183 housing associations carried out for the Federation found that 66% of their residents hit by the bedroom tax are in rent arrears, with more than a third (38%) reported to be in debt because they were unable to pay the bedroom tax.
At least 3,000 tenants in the West Midlands are set to be eligible for rebates after having benefits wrongly cut because they have extra bedrooms.
Figures obtained from councils by the BBC show thousands have been wrongly charged the under-occupancy penalty - dubbed the "bedroom tax" by critics - since April last year.
The Government has pledged more money for housing benefit claimants who need extra support.
But specialist property portal Dssmove.co.uk said the £165million will not fix the underlying problem.
A Labour MP's bill calling for the bedroom tax to be scrapped will get a second reading after successfully passing its first hurdle.
Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery (pictured) yesterday introduced a 10-minute bill on scrapping the controversial under-occupation penalty, which was backed by 226 votes to one.
Two thirds of households hit by the bedroom tax have fallen into rent arrears, according to new research published today.
An Ipsos MORI survey of 183 housing associations carried out for the National Housing Federation found that 66% of their residents affected by the controversial policy are struggling to pay their rent, with more than a third (38%) reported to be in debt because they were unable to pay the bedroom tax.
The coalition’s policies aimed at cutting the social security bill have so far fallen disproportionately on the youth demographic (and disabled people), despite older people receiving 47 per cent of UK welfare spending through state pensions.
Scrapping housing benefit for under-25s is one key policy announced at the Conservative party conference last year. The Conservatives seem determined to cut the benefits bill for the 1.1 million young people aged 16-24 who are out of work, despite the lack of jobs for them to go into.
Two-thirds - 66% - of social sector tenants affected by benefit cuts for those with extra bedrooms were behind with rent after six months, a National Housing Federation survey suggests.
And it said 38% were in debt because of the "unfair, unworkable" policy change - dubbed the "bedroom tax" by critics.
The average Londoner needs to earn an extra £105,000 a year just to keep up with soaring house prices, a new report has revealed.
And housing charity Shelter's study - 'The house price gap' - shows that the average earner across England as a whole would need a £29,000 pay rise to keep up with escalating property prices.
Thousands of people are signing up to credit unions as an ethical and affordable alternative to high-interest money lenders.
In the last two months of 2013, Glasgow Credit Union dealt with more than 1600 inquiries and signed up 733 new members - a 260% increase on the previous year. The influx followed the Scottish Government's '12 Days of Debtmas' and 'A Helping Hand with Debt' campaigns.
Changes in housing benefit payments affecting disabled people could cost the public purse millions of pounds in Wales, a housing association has said.
Wales & West Housing (WWH) said many disabled tenants may be forced to move because of the so-called "bedroom tax".
Vulnerable housing benefit claimants who might need extra support are set to be helped by an additional £165 million of funding being made available to councils.
According to the Government, this builds on the £180 million funding this year and ensures continuing financial support.
Over a quarter of parents blame poor housing as a major factor for life in the UK becoming harder, a poll has revealed.
With 56% of families believing that life is harder today than it was 20 years ago, one in four told the survey that their neighbourhoods are not good places for their children to grow up in.
The government's stuttering universal credit system is continuing to baffle tenants, new research has revealed.
Half of those who took part in the National Landlords Association's survey said that though they are aware that UC will replace the current benefits system, they don't fully understand what it means.
Around 70,000 people are being pursued by bailiffs for council tax arrears following benefit cuts, the Labour Party has claimed.
The party has, according to the Independent newspaper, issued requests under the Freedom of Information Act to all English councils and 143 responded with figures showing 30,761 have been issued with bailiff notices. If extrapolated across England, 70,000 could be affected.