'Cruel policy' Benefit cap traps families in crowded, damp homes, study finds

Low-income families affected by the benefit cap are living on as little as £4 for each person a day, often in overcrowded, rat-infested and damp homes with little prospect of escape, according to a new study.

- Patrick Butler

The cap puts a ceiling on the amount a working-age family can receive in welfare support if no one in the household is working or they are on very low wages.

Families affected by it in many parts of the country are, in effect, trapped in poor-quality, private rented properties they cannot afford, even though these are often already the cheapest homes available in their local area, the London School of Economics study said.

The benefit cap was introduced in 2013 by the then chancellor George Osborne along with the bedroom tax. He argued it would save taxpayer money while imposing behavioural change on benefit claimants.

It is now set at £25,323 in London and £22,020 outside the capital. Two-thirds of capped families are single parents, half with a child undet five.

The authors of the study conclude that it should be scrapped as it pushes families into deeper poverty while failing to persuade them to get a job or move to cheaper housing.

In effect, it forces people to use everyday living expenses to cover often exorbitant rental costs for accommodation, pushing them into destitution, and leaving them unable to provide adequate clothing and reliant on food banks.