Rules surrounding housing costs for 18-21 year olds paid under the Universal Credit changed this week.
From the 1st April young people who are unable to live in the family home will lose their amount of housing benefit in their Universal Credit award.
Figures suggest that as much as 1000 young people will be affected by the cut to housing, rising to as much as 11,000 by 2020/21.
Youngsters who are in work, have children of their own, are disabled are not affected by the change.
A list of exemptions has been published by the government. (link to govt site)
We are of the opinion that this initiative may not have been thought out as required. I cannot help but think that the most vulnerable in this age group who slip the net could find themselves homeless. Homelessness is a welfare issue that affects families and communities alike. A change like this could worsen the problem. Also as s direct result of this change i could see that landlords would be hesitant to rent their properties to this age group for the fear they couldn’t pay their rent. A re-think of this proposal should be high on the governments agenda.
