The Department for Work and Pensions has been urged to cut Housing Benefit payments for working-age people who are able to work but do not have a job. The recommendation comes from Policy Exchange, a think tank, which has proposed that this group should lose a fifth of their housing benefit after two years of unemployment, rising to 40 per cent after four years.
The proposal is part of a new report from Policy Exchange that has been endorsed by Helen Whately, the Conservative Party's shadow work and pensions secretary. According to the think tank, the measure would save the government £2.5bn a year by 2031-32.
Think tank's proposal for Housing Benefit reductions
The report argues that the welfare system should differentiate between temporary hardship, enduring need and changing circumstances. Jean-André Prager, the report's author and former special adviser on welfare to three prime ministers, said: "Our welfare state should be able to distinguish between temporary hardship, enduring need and changing circumstances. Too often our systems treat circumstances at one point in someone's life as though they will never change."
Prager added: "For social housing, that means providing security for those who need it, while recognising that for others it should be a route towards work, mobility and greater independence rather than a home for life."
Conservative shadow secretary backs the report
Helen Whately said: "Social housing should be a safety net for families in difficult times and a springboard to help them get back on their feet. But our social housing provision is failing on both counts."
She added: "There's a shortage for families who desperately need it and no incentive for people to move on from state-subsidised accommodation."
Government responds to Housing Benefit cut proposal
A government spokesman responded to the report, saying: "Eligibility for social housing is tightly controlled, with most foreign nationals not eligible and priority rightly focused on those in greatest housing need."
The spokesman continued: "We know that lifetime tenancies provide stability and security which is why we are protecting them and keeping social rents affordable by repealing mandatory pay to stay rules. At the same time, we are reforming welfare to end the culture of people being signed off and written off."
The report's publication comes ahead of a separate announcement expected on October 28 involving Andy Burnham and John Healey, though details of that announcement were not provided in the report.
