Crisis names areas hardest hit by housing cuts

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Birmingham, Leeds and Liverpool have topped a list of local authorities likely to suffer the biggest impact of the government’s housing benefit cuts, according to Crisis.

The charity has warned that planned cuts of £1.8bn to housing benefit will lead to tenants falling into rent arrears, building up debt and, in the worst case scenario, facing homelessness.

Urging the government to ‘totally rethink’ the cuts, Crisis has today published a list of local authorities with the highest numbers of households affected.

Birmingham tops the list with 18,870, while Leeds has 15,610. Liverpool, Brighton and Blackpool all have more than 12,000 households each, while 11,180 in Cornwall are likely to be affected and more than 10,000 households in Bradford and Manchester are identified as at risk.

Cardiff will bear the brunt in Wales, according to Crisis, with 5,900 households. In Scotland, 9,660 households in Edinburgh and 8,110 in Glasgow will feel the impact of the cuts.

According to an impact assessment by the Department of Work and Pensions, almost a million UK households reliant on Local Housing Allowance will be affected. On average, over £600 a year will be lost from some of the poorest households.

Crisis chief executive Leslie Morphy said: ‘The government promised that in cutting the deficit it would protect the most vulnerable, but these figures show that thousands of those who are in greatest need will have their income hit when they can least afford it.

‘Far from hitting just expensive areas in London, these cuts will have a massive impact across the nation, including on households in areas which rank amongst the most deprived in the country.