Research carried out at a regional university shows that landlords in London are feeling the effect of the housing benefit changes more than elsewhere in the country, but it is their tenants who are suffering the most.
The Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research based at Sheffield Hallam University has released a paper entitled ‘Monitoring the impact of changes to the Local Housing Allowance system of housing benefit’ and the Government commissioned study shows that property investors with an interest in landlord insurance are threatening to boycott housing benefit tenants in their droves. The report suggests that 40% of private landlords in London will stop renting properties to tenants on housing benefits and that 37% said they would rather evict or not renew tenancies rather than cut their rental charges to reflect their tenant’s change of income. The figures are much higher than in other parts of the country and suggests that unless tenants can find work and improve their income then many will be looking for new accommodation outside of the capital.
In fact the research showed that many tenants in London were doing all they could to improve their situation with 34% saying they were actively looking for work and another 20% saying they were looking for better paid jobs; 38% said they were cutting down on basic essentials in a bid to eke more out of their social benefits.
Sir Steve Bullock, London Councils executive member for housing, said the report was worrying, explaining “Rents are much higher in London than in other parts of the country, and landlords are rightly worried about tenants who claim housing benefit being able to pay their rent. However, it seems far too many are evicting tenants or simply not renewing tenancy agreements and not working with tenants and councils to find a way forward. Landlords not reducing their rent will exacerbate the shortage of housing for those households who are working and on low incomes. We have already seen evictions in London and fear this will further escalate over the coming months.”