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The Government's plans to cap housing benefit will have a disastrous effect on families and impact on outer London boroughs, says Claire Kober Much has – rightly – been made of the Government's impending housing benefit caps, and the devastating impact they will have on families, especially in London. Arguments to the contrary (‘Benefit changes are tough but fair', The MJ, 28 October) are way off the mark from the reality which many families across London will face in coming months. The notion that such families need to be more flexible and realistic as to where they live could not be more absurd. It is abundantly clear that the changes will increase homelessness, interrupt schooling and healthcare, disrupt safeguarding arrangements and lead to the loss of support networks for families and vulnerable adults. For those in low paid work, disrupting the fragile balance involved in making ends meet will heighten barriers to employment. One of the clear and, I assume, unintended consequences will be many homeless households will lose employment opportunities and will have their routes out of poverty further limited. Put quite simply, the proposed benefit changes are ill-considered and at odds with the Government's vision to create a ‘fairer Britain'. It is abundantly clear that the changes will increase homelessness, interrupt schooling and healthcare, disrupt safeguarding arrangements and lead to the loss of support networks for families and vulnerable adults. Any notion of fairness is impossible to comprehend. Potentially more dangerous is the knock-on effect such changes will have on safeguarding some of the most vulnerable children in the capital. In the last few months in Haringey, we have had a net inflow of 40 children into the borough on child protection plans. With 3,300 homeless households living in temporary accommodation, 20,000 households on its housing register, high levels of overcrowding, and a large stock of unsafe or sub-standard private rented accommodation, Haringey is set to be a net recipient of homeless families from central London boroughs on an unprecedented scale. London Councils has estimated that, as a result of the housing benefit caps, more than 82,000 households in London could be forced to move. This will clearly impact on the lives of tens of thousands of children across London. Along with other boroughs outside central London, Haringey will pay a high price for the benefit savings the Government hopes to achieve from ‘capping' LHA rates. Outward migration will inflate rents, increase the shortage of affordable housing, and encourage landlords to let accommodation that is unsafe or sub-standard. It will result in an unprecedented number of homeless households being placed in out-of-borough temporary accommodation, a sharp rise in the number of unauthorised, poor-quality conversions of large homes to smaller units, and an increase in the number of children living in severely overcrowded conditions. In order to safeguard the interests and wellbeing of vulnerable adults and children, the secretary of state must act decisively to prohibit local authorities from placing ‘vulnerable' homeless households in out-of-borough temporary accommodation, except in an emergency, and then, only for a maximum of six weeks. This would cover a household containing a child who is the subject of a child protection plan, two or more children who have an educational statement, or an adult who has been assessed as having a critical or substantial need in relation to their mental or physical health and who, without intervention, is unable to protect themselves or maintain their own personal safety resulting in a threat to life. And it would help to allay fears that the sharp increase in boroughs' use of out-of-borough temporary accommodation will lead to them ‘shunting' their costs in relation to social care, healthcare, safeguarding and housing-related support. The Government's decision to promote the development of ‘affordable' social rented housing at 80% of market rents also seems bizarre. This will not only increase the size of the housing benefits bill but will act as a disincentive for work. In Haringey, this will increase the rent payable for a three-bedroom home to around £340 a week, representing an increase of £210 (160%). In common with many other local authorities, Haringey has made good use of the private rented sector to prevent homelessness and discharge its homelessness duty. However, there is no evidence to support the Government's view that private landlords will reduce their rents by up to 30% without reducing their investment in the management and maintenance of those properties. All in all, the Government has rushed into making reforms the consequences of which will have a disastrous impact on families and local communities across London. This major social upheaval will come at a time when the ability of local authorities, the health service or voluntary sector to support people through this profound change will be at its most limited. Claire Kober is leader of Haringey LBC

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WHITEHALL

Housing cap will 'shunt' families to outer London

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