Chancellor George Osborne has revived plans to get rid of housing benefit for people under 25.
Joe Stanley-Smith
Chancellor George Osborne has revived plans to get rid of housing benefit for people under 25.
Kingston students could have to move back in with their parents, sofa-surf with friends, or even become homeless if they don’t find a job immediately after finishing their degrees.
The idea first surfaced in June, when Prime Minister David Cameron said: “There are many [claiming housing benefit] who will have a parental home and somewhere to stay – they just want more independence.”
Thatcher’s heritage
Similar cuts in the 1980s under Margaret Thatcher caused homelessness to rise throughout the 1990s. The Tory government believed that young people would return to live with their parents, but for many it was not an option.
However, housing benefit costs taxpayers £26bn per year and it is the fastest-growing state hand-out.
“How can we justify paying housing benefit to young people who have never worked, when working people twice their age are still living with their parents because they can’t afford to buy their first home?” said Mr Osborne.