Benefit scrap for people under 25 could be ‘disastrous’, warns CHAT (From Mid Devon Star)

Benefit scrap for people under 25 could be ‘disastrous’, warns CHAT

7:00am Saturday 30th June 2012 in Mid Devon News

A HOMELESS charity in Tiverton has warned that Government plans to scrap housing benefit for 380,000 young people under 25 could have a ‘disastrous’ effect in Mid Devon.

Prime Minister David Cameron announced on Monday that working age welfare should be for people with no other means of support who have ‘fallen on hard times’.

The proposals would mean under-25s could no longer be subsidised to live independently when they could move back into the family home.

But the Churches Housing Action Team (CHAT), founded by Christians concerned about the number of people with housing problems in Mid Devon, said the move ‘could be disastrous’ and ‘seems like reverse age discrimination’.

Speaking on behalf of the group’s youth housing project team, Ruth Morley, a spokesperson for CHAT, said: “The Government should not impose this in a blanket fashion but support young people trying to sort out their own lives.

“If the proposals went ahead it would spell the end of CHAT’s youth housing project and other schemes helping young people to find accommodation.

“There must be a safety net.

“The Government needs to concentrate on making rents more affordable, then housing benefit would not be so necessary.”

Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday that the state spends almost £2bn a year on housing benefit for under-25s and that currently 210,000 people aged 16 to 24 are social housing tenants.