'Low income families priced out of housing market'

Housing charity Shelter said this week that Government cuts would mean renting a house in the towns will be “very unaffordable” for families receiving housing benefit by 2027.

Wentworth and Dearne MP and former housing minister John Healey warned that nearly 20,000 people in South Yorkshire would be on average £12 a week worse off because of the changes to housing benefit to be brought in this year.

Mr Healey said: “I know from the contact I have with people locally that household budgets are already stretched.

“This will have a major impact on familes struggling to make ends meet - and it could tip them over the edge.”

Housing benefit can be paid to working households on low incomes who need help to pay rent.

Mr Healey added: “Many people do work hard but don’t earn enough to be able to cope with housing costs.

“I’m concerned that these cuts could mean people falling into arrears and being forced to leave their homes and uproot their families.”

Andy Nutley, service manager for Shelter in South Yorkshire, said: “We are particularly concerned regarding the proposed changes to housing benefit.

“Because of the increased shortfall between the amount they receive and the rent they pay, many will be forced to cut back on essentials like food and electricity, or take on extra debt, just to make ends meet.

“Despite trying everything they can to stay afloat, some will be pushed over the edge into a spiral of debt, eviction and homelessness.”