Don't make thousands of vulnerable people homeless!

Government plans to cap Local Housing Allowance (LHA) which would mean a cut in the housing benefit support for people living in specialist housing. This will affect thousands of the most vulnerable people in the country including older people, people living with a disability, those fleeing domestic violence, young adults leaving care, homeless people and young families.

Some tenants will be forced to find £584 extra a month out of their own resources or face homelessness. The cap will decimate the support housing sector, making schemes that provide additional support to those who really need it simply unviable, with the expectation that public services such as the NHS will pick up the pieces.

Inevitably rent arrears will accumulate and it is likely that supported housing schemes will be closed and the residents forced into being homeless.

An example:
I will soon be 81. I live in a 41 household sheltered housing scheme, one of seven located from Hull in the North East to Paignton in Devon, run by a small housing association based in London. I have been told that my housing association may have to close my sheltered scheme if it is not financially viable. That would mean forty-one homeless households, possibly 300 if the other schemes are also closed.
The overall effect of the proposals will be dramatic with scores of homeless of all ages roaming the streets and countryside seeking shelter!