Experts question impact of benefit cap reduction

摘要

Government plans to reduce the annual household benefit cap from £26,000 to £23,000 - a key plank in the Government's aims to reduce welfare expenditure by £12bn this parliament -could price larger and poorer families out of large parts of England, housing experts have estimated. Gavin Smart, deputy chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing said: 'Our Housing Review Briefing shows that lowering the cap would make huge swathes of the country unaffordable for larger families on benefits.' He warned the social housing sector was struggling to cope with demand and feared there would be increasing levels of homelessness. A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman dismissed the review as 'scaremongering' and claimed the fact more than 22,000 households that were affected by the cap when it was first introduced moved into work or reduced housing benefit claims proved the benefit limit provided 'a clear incentive to get people into work'.