'Is there a link between shortage of housing, homelessness and   the welfare reform in the UK?', asks Ripon Ray 'Is there a link between shortage of housing, homelessness and the welfare reform in the UK?', asks Ripon Ray. 'I made a claim for universal credit over 5 months ago. Nothing has come through yet. My landlord has just sent me a letter. I am in rent arrears.  Am I going to be homeless again?’ Joanna Smith is nine months pregnant. She is living in temporary accommodation in Hackney, London, having been placed there by Westminster Council.   Housing benefit is not going to cover her rent in Westminster.  Her situation made me think about the state of the housing crisis, the underlying causes of such a crisis and its link with welfare reform. In 1976 there were over 5 million local authority tenancies on social rent. Social renters on overage pay 50% of the market rate. In 2017 the number of cou...