Poor people are being priced out of London

Welfare reform is driving poorer families out of private rental housing in parts of London, according to the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).

Reported by LG News:

Analysis of government figures by the housing body suggests rising rents and local housing allowance reforms have led to more of the country’s private tenants claiming benefits, while numbers claiming support in two of the capital’s boroughs have plummeted.

The amount of private sector tenants claiming housing benefit in the capital rose by 3.9% between March 2011and November last year. This was matched by 6.4% rises across Great Britain.

During this time, claimants in the private rented sector in Kensington and Chelsea RBC fell by 27.6% and in Westminster by almost a third.

‘The combined impact of high rents and local housing allowance reform means that poorer families are effectively being priced out of the private rented sector in some areas of London,’ CIH chief executive Grainia Long said.

‘My biggest concern is where they are ending up – social housing is at a premium across the capital. To find a more affordable home people may be forced to move long distances away from where they work – which could make it difficult to hold down their job in the long term – and from their support network of family and friends.

‘It cannot be right that some areas of the capital are becoming the exclusive preserve of the wealthy elite or that people on lower incomes are simply unable to afford to live in the places where they work. Increasing the number of new homes we build is vital if we are to have any hope of sustaining mixed communities.’