£480 wk ben cap not enough for families in London to live on.

The-Joker

EdgEy wrote: »

Exactly.

Many on this forum don't make the choice between benefits and work, because they're on £60k pa. That's great, and something to aspire to.

But the reality is that for people at the lower end of the income spectrum, they can often provide themselves with a better quality of life by signing on.

The government is to blame, not the individual.

If I offered you £20k to sit around all day, would that make you a scrounger, or me a muppet?

It's actually £24K or £480 per week. But that is after the proposed cap that keeps getting postponed. At the moment it is £1000's per week for some families.

Yes the government is to blame for paying so much in housing benefit, but this is what has pushed up rents so much and held up house prices.

The situation is unsustainable, so it will not be sustained.

Landlords will either have to lower their rents in line with the cap, or find their properties empty until they do. Many will find it hard to even keep up with the intertest on their mortgages with the lower rents coming in.

This is before interest rates go back up to normal.


Look there is something coming over the hill, its big and its very bad. Yes the property bears have been saying this for a long time, but the property bulls insist property is not in a bear market and that the bottom has already been reached. For some reason even with average rents collapsing when the cuts come in, property is in a new bull market. NOT!

drc

Most of the people that will be affected by the caps are those that live in private rented accommodation and get LHA (housing benefit). Large families with 3+ kids who live in social housing won't be affected because the rent is so cheap, even if they claim all the benefits going (housing benefit, ct benefit, child tax credits, income support, child benefit) this would still not reach the cap;

Per week for family with 4 kids;

Housing benefit = (approx for 3 bed social home in London £100)
Income support/Jobseekers allowance= £105.95
Child tax credits= £216
Child benefit=£60.50
Council tax benefit= approx £33
Free school meals= approx £2 per day so £40 per week (not included in cap)

Total = £515

So, they would lose about £15 if anything).

There are hundreds of thousands of families living in social homes in London who will not be affected or will lose a tiny amount of their benefits.

drc

mpmbm wrote: »

Most of your numbers are wrong. For a start even if your numbers were right then its not £15wk they would lose the cap is £480 so it would be £35wk they would lose.

By the way the benefit cap is a total benefit cap, everything is included, or there is no point having a cap if some people get more than that.

But there are not many families in London with 4 kids getting less than a couple of hundred quid a week housing benefit alone. Most are getting several hundred per week just for rent, then the other benefits on top.

This is an average family with 4 kids living in London at the moment. Some get thousands per week housing benefit this is the top end, most only get several hundred, and at the bottom end a couple of hudred for rent every week. So I have guessed the mean average of £500 per week rent paid by housing beneift.

Housing benefit = (approx for 3 bed private home in London £500)
Income support/Jobseekers allowance= £105.95
Child tax credits= £216
Child benefit=£60.50
Council tax benefit= approx £70
Free school meals= approx £2 per day so £40 per week (included in cap)

Total = £48,744.50

https://www.turn2us.entitledto.co.uk/calcresults.aspx?sid=13&cid=76d02617-1f6a-4b30-b62a-78649f3c5948

Firstly, in social housing the rent is much much lower than in the private sector. A 3 bed council or housing association home in London would be heavily subsidised so in the region of £100-150 per week.

You are getting confused with Local Housing Allowance which is the housing benefit paid to those on benefits renting in the private sector to private landlords. That has been capped you are correct.

My example is still correct using the rent for a social home (do you understand the difference?) in London and in London about a quarter to one third of all households live in social rented homes. Also, free school meals are not included in the cap so that is a big saving for a family with 4 kids (approx £40 per week).

Graham_Devon

Add on free prescriptions. Some childcare benefits. Fruit & Veg vouchers. Some reduced bills, such as electric and gas. Free laptops. Free collection of large household waste. Free insulation.

And it goes on...

Interesting one was savings, where some on benefits could claim gross interest on a small amount. Benefits were not counted towards income. Whereas for the worker, income is income.

Engeroosi

So what if benefits aren't enough to live in London, if your on benefits and not working then there is no major reason to live in London so move somewhere cheaper!!! Somewhere you might actually not require so much benefits and you never know, you might actually find a job!!!!!

kabayiri

Seriously, can't we bribe on a per family basis these 50K+ families living beyond the cap?

It sounds like most of them are beyond the cap because of high rent. Bribe them to move out to a cheaper area, even a different region, and free up what is clearly expensive housing stock for workers who want to work in the city and can afford it.

bobthedambuilder

Engeroosi wrote: »

So what if benefits aren't enough to live in London, if your on benefits and not working then there is no major reason to live in London so move somewhere cheaper!!! Somewhere you might actually not require so much benefits and you never know, you might actually find a job!!!!!

But that would be against their human rights ...

robmatic

ukcarper wrote: »

If you are a couple with a boy and girl one of which is over 10 and you live in inner west London you would receive £247 a week and would get your rent and council tax paid.

If you were earning £15k you would get £240 pay plus £164 a week and would have to pay £87 towards your rent and council tax leaving you £70 a week better off.

£70 isn't a great deal for working 35 hours.

drc

kabayiri wrote: »

Seriously, can't we bribe on a per family basis these 50K+ families living beyond the cap?

It sounds like most of them are beyond the cap because of high rent. Bribe them to move out to a cheaper area, even a different region, and free up what is clearly expensive housing stock for workers who want to work in the city and can afford it.

Why do we have to bribe them? It's not their money, it's the taxpayers. That's like saying we should pay interest to people that we have lent money to.

FTBFun

bobthedambuilder wrote: »

But that would be against their human rights ...

Would it?

Which article is it breaching?