Impact of the reduced Benefit Cap


The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) warned that the new cap would “have a widespread and severe impact” on more than 16,000 families across Britain. Its research found that it will reduce the income of these families across the social rented and private rented sectors — most of them two and three-children families — by up to £115 a week and affect more than 300,000 children. 


The new cap could put many families at serious risk of losing their homes and render housing in significant parts of the country unaffordable for those affected, CIH chief executive Terrie Alafat warned.


She said the reduction in total benefit would hit some of the most vulnerable families of all sizes across England, Scotland and Wales, and in many cases “they would immediately face a substantial gap between their rent and the help they receive to pay for their housing”.


“Worryingly, our analysis shows many families could be one redundancy or a period of ill health away from being in this situation,” she said. “We are seriously concerned that this could have a severe impact on these families, make housing in large sections of the country unaffordable and risk worsening what is already a growing homelessness problem. This is a measure which seriously risks undermining the government’s commitment to make society fairer for families in Great Britain and we suggest that they look at this urgently.”


Although the cap in London is set at £3,000 a year higher than elsewhere in the country, the CIH research shows that this is still not enough to fully compensate for the higher cost of housing. As a result, it found that around 18,000 families would be affected in the capital, while 17,500 would be hit in the South East. The North West would be next worst hit with 13,000 families affected. Meanwhile 12,000 would be affected in the West Midlands and the East of England, 6,700 in Scotland and nearly 6,000 in Wales.