The state pays the rent for one in five homes in Britain

By
Steve Doughty
Last updated at 8:42 AM on 03rd November 2009

Four in ten households in some parts of the country have their rent paid for by the state, Whitehall figures revealed yesterday.
They showed, on average, one in five homes is supported by housing benefit, the taxpayer handout which covers the rent for those on low incomes.
And in London, the figures revealed nearly a quarter of households are now reliant on the benefit.
One in five homes are supported by housing benefit from the taxpayer (picture posed by model)
The figures, disclosed in the Department of Work and Pensions‘ spending tables, also show that in the North-East, the North-West and Scotland around one in four receive the benefit.
The payout, which was first introduced in 1992 to bring clarity to state rent payments, cost £14.7billion when Labour came to power in 1997.
That figure has since risen by 18 per cent to £17.4billion and is expected to reach almost £21billion next year.

Last night, the Tories claimed the figures were evidence of the Government’s failure to reduce benefit dependency.
Theresa May, Tory work and pensions spokesman, said: ‘These are shocking figures and once again provide more damning evidence of Labour’s failure to tackle welfare reform.
‘Housing Benefit can provide valuable help to people in work or pensioners, but the reality is that for far too many people it represents part of a broader picture of benefit dependency.
We need to look very carefully at a system that results in almost half a community reliant on benefits.’

Yesterday’s figures showed that the area with the highest level of dependency was Hackney in North- East London, where 42 per cent have their rent paid by the handout.
In five London boroughs - Hackney together with Tower Hamlets, Newham, Haringey and Islington - more than a third of homes receive housing benefit. Outside London, around 30 per cent of homes in Glasgow, Manchester and Liverpool are dependant on the handout.
The figures also showed that two out of three claims are made by households containing people of working age, while an astonishing 45 per cent of claims are made by those living entirely on benefits.
Claims have risen by nearly 250,000 in the past year as the recession has deepened, with the average payment standing at £81.03 a week.
However, ministers insisted last night that housing benefit was designed to help those who are not already dependent on the state.
Helen Goodman, work and pensions minister, said: ‘Theresa May’s position is inconsistent. Only the Tories could call for more support for people on low incomes to go into work one week and criticise it the next.
‘The fact is that housing benefit helps people in and out of work. More than half of recipients are not claiming out of work benefits - and include pensioners and many people who already have jobs.’

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Wonderful….and I had to WAIT 39 weeks to get the INTEREST paid on my mortgage….the world is ill devided…..hindsight is a great thing. I would never take out a mortgage again…..
- Christa BELL, Dorset, 03/11/2009 17:45

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Lots of new council housing available at a weekly rent affordable on the national minimum wage, decent generous benefits for anyone too sick or disabled to work and for carers and for the rest of the unemployed government re-training schemes or community work paid at national minimum wage with intense focus on help getting back into normal work, free child care available to all those who are in work or on schemes - no benefits and no cheap housing available to anyone who refuses to work or be on a scheme. These measures would seem to me to be a better use of collective taxpayers money than the current system, but what do I know, I am not a politician and perhaps it would all cost too much.
- anon, uk, 03/11/2009 15:26

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Ok, lets see….. high rents in London…. increasing housing benefits…. enables higher rents…… forcing increased housing benefits…… allows landlords to raise rents appealing to property investors…… resulting in increased housing benefits…..
Whoa! is there a trend here?
Lunacy and idiocy rules!
- Hopefully not the only one who can see the obvious, Darlington, 03/11/2009 14:51

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In some parts yes - but in some parts ZERO out or TEN are paid by council tax.
Just if you have money don’t live where the poor do….
- The one, Suffolk, 03/11/2009 14:27

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There is little or No work Now in the UK. There are too many Non-working people from the EU & outside the EU that have been let into the Country, So there will No- longer be full Employment. The government encourage people to live apart with there Tax & benefit system costing even more money for the state rather than if married or together. All the political party’s are waste of Time with there out-of- touch with the public Leaders.
- Ingo, West ham, 03/11/2009 14:22

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The taxpayer will forever be subsidising the lazy. RADICAL reform of the welfare state is needed. We can save billions of pounds if some common sense was applied to the benefits system.
- Steve C, London, 03/11/2009 14:12

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