Benefit Reform Underpins Vital Work of Housing Sector
The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) welcomes the Coalition government’s commitment to tackling poverty and barriers to work announced today by Iain Duncan Smith. The proposals to reform the welfare system and programmes to support people into work could have a major impact on households’ quality of life as well as improving the impact of many housing providers’ activities to tackle deprivation.
Richard Capie, CIH Director of Policy and Practice, said: “CIH has long called for reform of benefits, particularly Housing Benefit, to remove the barriers experienced by people seeking and entering work. Housing professionals do some great work to support some of the country’s most vulnerable and excluded households into training and employment, but the benefit system can reduce the impact of these efforts. The detail of reforms has yet to be decided. We would hope to see the introduction of extended Housing Benefit payments to ease transition into work; and new assessment processes which give stability to people who are in work but on fluctuating incomes. In the longer term, we would like to see support for housing costs integrated into a tax credit system – this is the most realistic way to reduce the impact of benefit withdrawal rates when someone enters employment.”
He went on to say, “We have high hopes for the new Cabinet Committee on Social Justice, and look forward to working closely with them to develop short and longer term reforms and deliver a welfare system which holistically supports positive outcomes for individuals and communities.”
*ENDS*
News release issued on behalf of the CIH by Jill Dwyer, CIH Press Office, Octavia House, Westwood Way, Coventry CV4 8JP. Telephone: 02476 851780 or 07786 716961. Email: press@cih.org.
Notes to Editors:
1. CIH has produced detailed ideas for housing benefit reform, which are available at http://www.cih.org/policy/HousingBenefit-Resp-Feb10.pdf
2. CIH Housing Futures site www.housingfutures.cih.co.uk/ provides useful commentary and analysis on all the latest policy developments relevant to the housing sector.
3. CIH’s HouseProud campaign in partnership with Inside Housing – in particular drew attention to the contribution the housing sector makes to tackling worklessness. Further information is available at www.housingfutures.cih.co.uk
4. The Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) is the professional body for people involved in housing and communities. We are a registered charity and not-for-profit organisation. We have a diverse and growing membership of over 22,000 – both in the public and private sectors – living and working in over 20 countries on five continents across the world. Our members work for local authorities, housing associations, Arms Length Management Organisations, Government bodies, educational establishments and the private sector. Many tenants and residents are also members. We exist to maximise the contribution that housing professionals make to the wellbeing of communities. Further information is available at: www.cih.org
5. The Chartered Institute of Housing’s annual UK conference and exhibition in Harrogate takes place from 22-24 June 2010 www.cihhousing.com
