The overall benefit cap will hit ten times more families in Wales when it starts to be reduced from November 7, according to new research by the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH).
The new £20,000 cap will hit 5,844 families compared to just 586 under the existing £26,000 limit on the benefits that any household can receive unless they qualify for one of the exemptions.
CIH has conducted new UK-wide research which shows the cap will hit 116,000 families across the social rented and private rented sectors, the vast majority of which are two and three-children families, by up to £115 a week. More than 300,000 children live in these households.
CIH chief executive Terrie Alafat said the new cap could put many families at serious risk of losing their homes and render housing in significant parts of the country unaffordable for those affected. She said:
‘The results of our research are extremely worrying. It shows that the reduction in total benefits is going to hit some of the most vulnerable families of all sizes across England, Scotland and Wales.
‘These families will lose out when the cap comes into effect from 7 November and in many cases will straight away face a substantial gap between their rent and the help they receive to pay for their housing.
‘Worryingly, our analysis shows many families could be one redundancy or a period of ill health away from being in this situation.
‘We are seriously concerned that this could have a severe impact on these families, make housing in large sections of the country unaffordable and risk worsening what is already a growing homelessness problem.
‘This is a measure which seriously risks undermining the government’s commitment to make society fairer for families in Great Britain and we suggest that they look at this urgently.’
The research shows that in Wales the majority of families impacted, standing at over 3,000, will be those in households with three children. A lone parent with three children living in a two bedroom private rented sector house in Cardiff on job seekers allowance will face a shortfall of over £60 per week in their rent.
Here is a full regional and national breakdown of the families affected:
