'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...

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I recently advised Shazna Rahman*, a Bangladeshi Muslim woman in Newham. She came to seek debt advice from me at Toynbee Hall, a charity in Tower Hamlets that helps communities in poverty. She was wearing full black burkah . This is a piece of clothing covering her body completely. It was not the manifestation of her faith that struck me most, but the reality of her difficult and hard life. Her children were taken away from her by Social Services because she was unfit to look after herself and her children due to a highly traumatised divorce that resulted in a mental breakdown. She moved from Tower Hamlets to Newham into private accommodation. She claimed housing benefit to pay for her rent.  After a few years, she became homeless when her private landlord wanted to rent the property out to a professional couple who would pay more. Newham council put her in temporary accommodation because she was deemed in priority need due to her mental health. ...

I have noticed a dramatic change in my line of work as a debt adviser following the introduction of Universal Credit in 2013.  It has become common to see clients who are in rent and council tax arrears. In areas where it was initially rolled-out, 73% of claimants were in arrears and owed on average £772. Ian Duncan Smith, former Secretary of Department for Work and Pensions, stated that the policy was meant to take people out of poverty.  Its impact has been to the contrary.  It was one of several welfare reforms introduced by the 2010-15 Coalition Government under the Welfare Reform Act 2012 which was planned for implementation by March 2022 as part of overall austerity measures. Universal Credit replaces the following benefits: Job Seekers Allowance, Employment Support Allowance, Housing Benefit, Working Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit. Universal Credit affected claimants of working age. Claimants would now receive the benefit monthly and would be r...

Who would have thought that in the 21st century we would be having a conversation about whether to get a voucher for a foodbank or not because we are too poor to buy food. According to the Trussell Trust, which runs a network of over 400 foodbanks, 1 in 20 people in Britain have gone without meals because they are unable to afford food, 14% of Britain has cut down on the amount of fresh food they buy in order to save money and 1 in 50 people have used food banks. Although the data does show the state of the nation via a vis the use of food banks, the real challenge faced by those so impoverished has been caused by many factors. Some have argued the problem has been caused by ‘austerity’. Austerity’ as per Merriam-Webster is as:   ‘Enforced or extreme economy especially on a national scale’ The definition maybe seen as resembling the state of Britain under the current conservative administration whereby there has been a substantial adjustment in public expendi...