‘Ballooning’ bill for workers’ housing benefit

Official figures released this week show that the in-work housing benefit bill will ‘balloon to £12.9bn’ as millions of people struggle to survive in austerity Britain.

Labour estimates, based on Commons library statistics, the total cost of housing benefit payments to people who are in work will rise to £12.9bn by 2019 – £488 per household.

Since the coalition came to power, the number of working people dependent on benefits to top up their low incomes has grown to 962,000.

With predictions that this will rise again to 1.2m by 2018 and the cost of supplementing working poverty set to soar, the need for the living wage in the UK is ever more crucial.

The hefty housing benefit bill makes up about 14 per cent of welfare spending and will put ÂŁ10.8bn a year in state support into the hands of private landlords.

Shadow work and pensions secretary, Rachel Reeves said, “The number of working people claiming housing benefit is set to double because the Tory government has failed to tackle low pay, insecure work and the cost-of-living crisis.”

Stagnant wages will add a further ÂŁ2.4bn a year to the welfare bill by the end of the next decade, as more and more people on low pay are forced to rely on tax credits.

As it stands the national minimum wage of £6.31 per hour falls short of the living wage – currently set at £8.80 for London and £7.65 for the rest of the UK.

The 2013 Howard Reed report outlined that paying a living wage would have great impact in wider terms; improving the frenzied public finances by generating higher tax receipts and lower benefit and tax credit expenditure – so austerity measures could be lessened – and an increased demand for goods and services, boosting the flat lining economy and giving people a better standard of living.

Welfare minister Mark Harper defended the public finance mess by saying that the Tory target was to “build a welfare system that provides a safety net for those in need, while rewarding the willingness to work.”

Unite assistant general secretary Steve Turner said, “Millions of working people are on poverty pay and unless and until housing becomes more affordable, they will need taxpayer help because the ugly truth is that work doesn’t pay in Coalition Britain.

“Wages need to rise, for sure, but housing costs will not fall until housing need is addressed. We need to build more, faster. Only with decent, affordable, social housing can the obscenity of private rental costs be genuinely tackled.”

Unite is campaigning for the living wage to be brought to Britain. March with us on 18 October to bring an end to working poverty.

Unite’s community members are supporting members in housing need across the country. UniteLive will be reporting on these campaigns.

Britain needs a pay rise. #Oct18