Changes to Housing benefit how much will rents fall?

Silverbull

drc wrote: »

When do the changes actually come into effect? Will it be at the beginning of the new tax year in early April 2011? If so, people have 5.5 months to start evaluating their situations.

Next April housing benefit will be capped at 400wk. Or 350 for 3 bed or 290 for those who qualify for a 2 bed.

Then the year after the 500 benefits total cap. so if anyone is still getting 400wk housing benefit they will have not much to live on after council tax.

ukcarper

I suppose the only realistic solution is more social housing and I don’t think that will happen.

Llubrevlis

ukcarper wrote: »

I suppose the only realistic solution is more social housing and I don’t think that will happen.

The government are selling off 60 billion pounds worth of property before prices tank.

The solution everyone keeps talking about is prices go back to normal 3x income.

ukcarper

Llubrevlis wrote: »

The government are selling off 60 billion pounds worth of property before prices tank.

The solution everyone keeps talking about is prices go back to normal 3x income.

That's a likely as the government building more social housing and I think 3x average wage was only for a short period in the 90s.

RDB

ukcarper wrote: »

That's a likely as the government building more social housing and I think 3x average wage was only for a short period in the 90s.

I thought about 3.5x income was the long term average for house prices in the UK?

Anyone have the actual long term average?

Any way it does seem the government are planning for rents and house prices to fall in London.

The question is when the 500wk benefit cap comes in will it be option

A. Most on low income move away from London, or......

B. Rents fall enough for them to stay on the lower entitlement.


Or what are other options considering 500wk cap per household? As has been said this would leave most on low earning/income with about 250-300wk to pay rent and council tax.

I wonder how many people in London are now getting more than 250-300 per week rent and council tax beneift?

carolt

RDB wrote: »

I thought about 3.5x income was the long term average for house prices in the UK?

Anyone have the actual long term average?

Any way it does seem the government are planning for rents and house prices to fall in London.

The question is when the 500wk benefit cap comes in will it be option

A. Most on low income move away from London, or......

B. Rents fall enough for them to stay on the lower entitlement.


Or what are other options considering 500wk cap per household? As has been said this would leave most on low earning/income with about 250-300wk to pay rent and council tax.

I wonder how many people in London are now getting more than 250-300 per week rent and council tax beneift?

Can't answeer that, nut here's some more info on this - it seems that


Housing benefit cuts will hit 90 per cent of capital’s rented homes

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23862906-housing-benefit-cuts-will-hit-90-per-cent-of-capitals-rented-homes.do

Actually,headline is misleading - 90% of homes in Central London go for more than new LHA figures, but acroass London as a whole, " an average of just over 70 per cent of private rented homes would be deemed ineligible."

So...lots of people in privately rented properties will be affected.

carolt

This suggests total figures across London who will lose out as a result of changes will be 170,000:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog/2010/jun/28/london-councills-count-cost-to-households-of-george-osborne-housing-benefit-cap

ukcarper

carolt wrote: »

This suggests total figures across London who will lose out as a result of changes will be 170,000:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/davehillblog/2010/jun/28/london-councills-count-cost-to-households-of-george-osborne-housing-benefit-cap

Quote: Throw in London Councils' quick estimate that 170,000 households in the private rented sector across the capital will lose out because of the cap, and we're confronted with the prospect of hundreds of thousands of Londoners of all ages being effectively forced to migrate across the capital in order to find places their home boroughs can afford to support their living in :Quote

Where in London are they going to find all those properties?

carolt

The other question to answer is what will happen to all the properties they're forced to vacate.

Don't forget, there will now be 170,000 properties empty, looking for rich tenants to fill them. Will they be able to? I doubt it - let's face it, if they could have got a working professional tenant to pay the same as someone on LHA, they'd probably have taken the former, wouldn't they?

So rents will come down until they reach a level working people can actually afford.

Very good thing too.

ukcarper

By definition these properties are in the better parts of London so people will want them.

I suspect if they can afford too some Landlords will reduce their rents while some will try to sell, which could cause prices to drop in the better parts of London. Some tenants will find the extra and some will try to move increasing demand in the not so nice parts.

But it will be chaos.