A WARNING that Government policy is failing Warrington South’s “most vulnerable” tenants has been given by an election hopeful.
David Mowat, (pictured) Prospective Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Warrington South, said that Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s changes to housing benefit rules are harming tenants and reducing availability of affordable 
accommodation.
Last year a new local housing allowance was introduced with housing benefit being direct to the tenant rather than to the landlord.
Evidence shows that vulnerable tenants often struggle to manage their finances and spend their rent money on other things. Homeless charity, Crisis, has warned that this can result in rent arrears and eventually homelessness.
Landlords have suffered from non-payment of rent, and many are refusing to let to local housing allowance claimants.
Mr Mowat said adverts in the local press often say “no DSS.”
He said 11,563 people in Warrington are on local housing waiting lists, and a sizeable proportion of them are on housing benefit. Under Conservatives, tenants would be able to choose to have their housing benefit paid directly to the landlord – so increasing the availability of quality low-cost housing.
He said: “Labour’s new housing benefit rules are failing the most vulnerable in our society. Landlords are put off from renting to those on benefit, slashing the availability of decent places to live. Some tenants struggle to manage their finances, using up their benefit money by rent pay day. They get into arrears and trouble as a result.
“Tenants should have greater choice and be free to specify that their housing benefit should go direct to the landlord. This will help those most in need.”
