Almost 300,000 people are at risk of being squeezed out of their properties in London because of the government's plan to reduce housing benefits paid to some of the most vulnerable people in the country, campaigners warn today.
The exodus, says the National Housing Federation, the main voice for the country's housing associations, would follow George Osborne's plan to peg housing allowances next year to the bottom third of private sector rents. At present claimants get allowances calculated on the bottom half of private rents.
The federation calculates that, if enacted, the changes would see the rent charged on 114,000 homes occupied by benefit claimants in London become unaffordable – leaving more than 250,000 people "at risk of losing their residences". Osborne's move would not just affect wealthy areas such as Westminster but also poorer parts of the capital such as Lambeth and Southwark.
The research, which is based on official government figures, backs the claim that poor and vulnerable people will no longer be able to live in the capital – forced instead to go to London's fringes or pushed into "overcrowded conditions". Labour MPs accuse the government of attempting to "socially cleanse" the capital of poor people.
David Orr, the federation's chief executive, said: "London is one of the most vibrant and socially mixed cities in the world – and yet the diversity, for which it is so famous, is under threat from the government's proposal to bring all housing benefit allowances into line with the bottom third of rents.
He said: "The changes push 160,000 vulnerable households into competing for just 46,000 homes [which] is extremely worrying and morally wrong."
While some landlords could reduce rents in line with the new upper limit, the federation says that the housing market in London is so strong that most would simply decide to keep their charges at the same level and let properties out to private tenants.
The government remains undeterred, saying the housing benefits bill is "out of control". A spokesperson for the department of work and pensions said: "It's not right that some families on benefits were able to live in homes that hard-working families could not afford."
The shadow secretary of state for work and pensions, Yvette Cooper, described the data as "shocking" and called for ministers to discard the proposals. "From this April huge numbers of families will be forced to move far from their children's schools or parents' jobs; thousands of the poorest pensioners will be forced to move far from their GP, neighbours or support services."
