Shelter responds to the Universal Credit debate.

October 19, 2017
Shelter responds to the Universal Credit debate.
Polly Neate, CEO of Shelter, said: “Shelter’s advisers are hearing from more and more people whose lives are being turned upside down by the many flaws with Universal Credit. Not only are people forced to go without basics like food and electricity, but the delays mean they get into debt, cannot pay their rent and risk being evicted and made homeless.“If the government wants Universal Credit to fulfil its aim of helping people, it must immediately resolve the unnecessary delays and errors that are causing so much suffering. The housing element of Universal Credit is too low to keep up with the actual cost of private rents in much of the country, meaning even if people receive their benefits on time they could still lose their home. The government must lift the freeze on housing benefit in the Autumn Budget.”

Source of information Shelter.

Allen Walkey

Highly experienced businessman with a successful career in property sales and investment both in the UK and abroad. Now a freelance writer and blogger for the property and Investment Industry, keeping readers up-to-date with changes and events in a rapidly changing world.

You May Also Enjoy

Breaking News

Building Safety Approval Process Urgently Needs Fixing

Bradley Lay, a Leading Construction M&A Expert Calls on Government to Urgently Fix Building Safety Approval Process as Insolvencies Surge A leading UK construction expert has called on the Government to urgently reassess the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) approval process, warning that delays in the current system are “slowly killing the economy”, triggering thousands of…
Read More →
Breaking News

Kickstarting Private Housebuilding is Key to Sector-Wide Recovery

Starts on-site decline by 9% during the three months to January 2026, remaining 16% below 2025 levels Residential construction starts fell by 24% on the preceding three months and 32% against 2025 figures Non-residential project-starts increased by 6% against the preceding three months, finishing 7% up on a year ago Civils work starting on-site remained…
Read More →
Social Housing 2019
Estate Agent Talk

Building the Wrong Homes Won’t Fix Homeownership

For many years, the national discussion about affordable housing has focused on one appealing idea that simply building more houses will make it easier for first-time buyers to own a home, and the issue will fix itself. However, Propertymark’s member agents, working daily in local housing markets across the UK, see a far more complex…
Read More →
Estate Agent Talk

Compliance uncertainty leaves lift fire safety exposed in property sector

As the FM industry continues to adjust to an evolving regulatory landscape, new research indicates that widespread uncertainty and fragmented record-keeping could be undermining lift fire safety compliance, weakening building fire strategies. Last month, the Building Safety Regulator (BSR) became a standalone public body, separating from the Health and Safety Executive to provide a more…
Read More →
Breaking News

London rent affordability improves

The latest research by London lettings and estate agent, Benham and Reeves, reveals that the average London renter is spending 50% of their income on rent each month. However, the good news is that strong wage growth in the capital means that this proportion has actually reduced since 2024. Bennham and Reeves has analysed average…
Read More →
Breaking News

Liverpool leads as busiest estate agency markets

Liverpool, Bradford and Leicester lead as Britain’s busiest estate agent markets in 2026 The latest research from eXp UK has revealed that Liverpool, Bradford and Leicester are currently the busiest markets for Britain’s estate agents when it comes to the estimated number of homes listed for sale per agent in 2026. eXp UK analysed the…
Read More →