Gov back down on 18-21 yr old housing benefit

Campaigning and Policy

The Guardian reports that Esther McVey has led the government in dropping the 2015 initiative to restrict housing benefit to over 22s.

All the usual housing charities are wheeled out to condemn the policy but I suspect it was probably a good thing to make youngsters wait a little before beginning a life on HB.

They will doubtless find lots of personal disaster stories about young people denied HB so here is mine from my own family.

My sister claimed HB in Brighton from the age of 18. Although our very fine family home was less than 10 miles away she claimed that our father had kicked her out making her homeless. What she meant was that she refused to comply with the old man's one house rule which was that she had to get up out of bed no later than 12 noon!

I wonder how many other "homeless" youngsters have a bedroom in a million pound house they have turned their nose up at?