Black and minority ethnic tenants hit hardest by benefit cuts

Article in Inside Housing that says that housing benefit cuts will disproportionately harm black and minority ethnic (BME) families, according to the first study to assess their impact on the BME community. The Race Equality Foundation said the cuts, which kicked in for new claimants this month, could damage community cohesion by forcing BME families from their homes and into new areas where housing is more affordable.

It claimed BME communities will be more likely to suffer from the cuts because they often need larger homes due to family size and tend to live in areas targeted by the cuts such as London, where the disparity between rents and the benefit cap is particularly high. It pointed to Department for Work and Pensions research which estimated 30 per cent of households affected by capping local housing allowance payments to a maximum of four bedrooms included someone from a BME background.

BME tenants ‘get a raw deal from benefit cuts’

The report also states that some of the changes will not be affect those with disabilities i.e. on DLA. I was unaware of this and if anyone could shed any light on it I would be grateful. For example the only one I can think of is the extra room for an overnight carer but not relating to capping as the report states (at page 8).

We think that the exemptions for disabled people getting DLA HRC/MRC refers to both the overall capping of benefit levels eligible that is proposed under WRB (£500 p/w), as well non-dep deductions not being applied.

Paul,

Thanks so it seems the only new issue would be the cap for weekly total benefits as the NDD issue is in, and has been, the REGS for sometime?

Thanks again.

The capping is a bit of a mess.

I’ve just done a bit on my Welfare Reform blog on the capping situation and there’s also a revised version of the Benefits and the Bill paper which does some modelling of the capping proposals.  you can find both at http://blog.cix.co.uk/gmorgan

There’s no doubt that capping will hit large families and high rents most but the new proposals for UC capping look like having more of an effect on those working for low pay than those getting higher pay for the same hours.