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Housing benefit reform - readers' panel Housing benefit reform - readers' panel
(7 months later)
Camden council has said it will shortly be contacting more than 700 families to be moved up to 200 miles away following the coalition's benefit cap – which limits total welfare payments to £500 a week for families. This will mean that they will be unable to afford their current accommodation or any other home in the south-east. Here Guardian readers from London and elsewhere in the UK react to the news, offering differing points of view. Add yours in the comment thread below.Camden council has said it will shortly be contacting more than 700 families to be moved up to 200 miles away following the coalition's benefit cap – which limits total welfare payments to £500 a week for families. This will mean that they will be unable to afford their current accommodation or any other home in the south-east. Here Guardian readers from London and elsewhere in the UK react to the news, offering differing points of view. Add yours in the comment thread below.
Anonymous - resident outside London who wishes to move thereAnonymous - resident outside London who wishes to move there
I live with my wife and son in a small Fenland village in Cambridgeshire. The air is fresh but there is little else in the way of benefits to living here.I live with my wife and son in a small Fenland village in Cambridgeshire. The air is fresh but there is little else in the way of benefits to living here.
There are few facilities and oddly enough, nowehere to walk. We have all put on weight since moving from Nottingham where we used to live. Every time we visit London to sample the cultural life we all have the feeling we would like to live there.There are few facilities and oddly enough, nowehere to walk. We have all put on weight since moving from Nottingham where we used to live. Every time we visit London to sample the cultural life we all have the feeling we would like to live there.
But then we take a reality check after looking at the property prices. We bought our detached house for £165,000. A comparable property to our own would cost £500,000 and we simply do not have the income to support that.But then we take a reality check after looking at the property prices. We bought our detached house for £165,000. A comparable property to our own would cost £500,000 and we simply do not have the income to support that.
My wife has often asked me: How do people of low incomes afford to live in London? Housing benefit, I reply. The local council pays out for rent and rates to the unemployed and those on low incomes. She looks at me, bemused and hurt. Well then, she says - give up your job, let's sell the house and move to London and claim poverty. Hmm, I think - now there's a thought.My wife has often asked me: How do people of low incomes afford to live in London? Housing benefit, I reply. The local council pays out for rent and rates to the unemployed and those on low incomes. She looks at me, bemused and hurt. Well then, she says - give up your job, let's sell the house and move to London and claim poverty. Hmm, I think - now there's a thought.
Matt Pringle - ManchesterMatt Pringle - Manchester
Moving the poor, unemployed and disabled from London to cities like Birmingham or Bradford will not solve the underlying problem that London is not building affordable housing for its people.Moving the poor, unemployed and disabled from London to cities like Birmingham or Bradford will not solve the underlying problem that London is not building affordable housing for its people.
A problem moved is not a problem solved. The same stresses will remain, every family relocated will be replaced by another who has fallen on hard times.A problem moved is not a problem solved. The same stresses will remain, every family relocated will be replaced by another who has fallen on hard times.
Being displaced to a different part of the country will only make individual situations worse. People will lose their support networks, friends, family, schools, charities, care providers, they will have to start all over again.Being displaced to a different part of the country will only make individual situations worse. People will lose their support networks, friends, family, schools, charities, care providers, they will have to start all over again.
The peoples of Bradford and Birmingham are also in need of more social housing, schools are over stretched and council budgets are being cut. Once families are relocated it is probably correct to assume they will become the responsibility of the council to where they were moved. That is, the people of Bradford and Birmingham will have the responsibility to pay for the services the council in London no longer wants to provide.The peoples of Bradford and Birmingham are also in need of more social housing, schools are over stretched and council budgets are being cut. Once families are relocated it is probably correct to assume they will become the responsibility of the council to where they were moved. That is, the people of Bradford and Birmingham will have the responsibility to pay for the services the council in London no longer wants to provide.
These adopted cities will also see an increase in demand for their housing stock, driving up prices and pushing people further into poverty. It would only be a matter of time until the initial problem once again meant areas would be unaffordable and people would need to be moved on.These adopted cities will also see an increase in demand for their housing stock, driving up prices and pushing people further into poverty. It would only be a matter of time until the initial problem once again meant areas would be unaffordable and people would need to be moved on.
The logical outcome if this is allowed to become socially acceptable is that many more people will be moved away from the more affluent areas of our country. This will not be a one off occurrence and as cuts bite we may well see that those who are considered a drain on a council's budget, impoverished pensioners, the disabled, young unemployed adults and single parents will all be forced to move on.The logical outcome if this is allowed to become socially acceptable is that many more people will be moved away from the more affluent areas of our country. This will not be a one off occurrence and as cuts bite we may well see that those who are considered a drain on a council's budget, impoverished pensioners, the disabled, young unemployed adults and single parents will all be forced to move on.
The final insult being that the people affected will never have the chance to vote against these councils and their policies, as they will no longer have a right to vote in their old council's elections.The final insult being that the people affected will never have the chance to vote against these councils and their policies, as they will no longer have a right to vote in their old council's elections.
John Parrott - London residentJohn Parrott - London resident
My fiancée and I are tenants in the private rental sector in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Assessing the current London housing market against what we want in life, such as starting a family, we will likely have to leave London in the near future.My fiancée and I are tenants in the private rental sector in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Assessing the current London housing market against what we want in life, such as starting a family, we will likely have to leave London in the near future.
Beyond the arguments about social cleansing and housing essential workers, it is for this reason that I cannot condemn Camden council - if significant numbers of unsubsidised tenants are having to leave London due to lack of housing affordability, why should others have a right to remain living there in subsidised housing?Beyond the arguments about social cleansing and housing essential workers, it is for this reason that I cannot condemn Camden council - if significant numbers of unsubsidised tenants are having to leave London due to lack of housing affordability, why should others have a right to remain living there in subsidised housing?
Some may counteract this view by saying that we have a choice and they do not. Granted, we do. I am not in principle against renting all my working life as numerous urban continental Europeans do with secure long term tenancies at affordable rates, having money left over to invest for retirement. Rents in proportion to wages are so high in London that we have little left each month to put away for later in life and are unable to amass the deposits required for starter properties in the south east.Some may counteract this view by saying that we have a choice and they do not. Granted, we do. I am not in principle against renting all my working life as numerous urban continental Europeans do with secure long term tenancies at affordable rates, having money left over to invest for retirement. Rents in proportion to wages are so high in London that we have little left each month to put away for later in life and are unable to amass the deposits required for starter properties in the south east.
So maybe it will be pastures new for us and Camden's tenants alike, to places such as Bradford and Birmingham. We will survive and so shall London.So maybe it will be pastures new for us and Camden's tenants alike, to places such as Bradford and Birmingham. We will survive and so shall London.
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