Housing benefit cuts sharpen
The Tories’ planned cuts in housing benefit will cause hardship for hundreds of thousands of working-class families. Many will be left homeless and destitute. Before April this year, housing benefit awards were based on the cheapest half of private rents in any given area. Under new rules they will be based on the cheapest third of rents. But even if people rent in the cheapest end of the market, benefit will still be cut if the rent is above a set limit for the property size. Initially this will affect families needing larger homes, but eventually, as capped amounts are unlikely to be able to...