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A series of subtle changes to housing benefit mean the safety net for people renting their home is shrinking fast

The necessity of housing makes housing benefit a crucial part of the safety net. It ensures that if someone loses their job, they don't immediately fall behind on their rent and risk losing their home as well. It also allows job-seekers to focus on securing a new job rather than where they are going to sleep that night. 

A BLIND widow who got a personal apology from a council boss over a bedroom tax eviction threat has had her housing benefit cut.

Now Helen Sockell, who lost her sight aged 14, fears fresh moves to boot her out of her home. 

It is more than six months since the government's benefits cap was introduced, with the aim of encouraging people into work. Panorama followed council officers in the London Borough of Brent for seven months to find out how it was affecting families.

"I don't know how anyone can be rich and proud on benefits. For me, it's very shameful. I hate being in this situation. I hate having to rely on the government," said single mother-of-two Tanya Blake. 

One in four, or about 843,000, London households currently receive housing benefit to help them pay their rent, says a new London Assembly report.

The housing benefit bill for London in 2012-13 was more than £6bn and claims have risen by over 100,000 since 2008. It’s not surprising the government wants to get a hold of rising costs, but the report describes how nearly half of all households in the UK subject to the overall benefits cap have been in London. This is primarily down to our higher housing costs. Londoners in social housing have also been disproportionately affected by the "Bedroom Tax".

Up to 100,000 social housing tenants hit by the bedroom tax are trapped in large homes that they can't move out of, research has revealed.

The Joseph Rowntree Foundation's study found that the government's controversial under-occupancy policy has failed to free-up homes in many areas. 

Croydon Council has seen rent arrears amongst its tenants drop by 9% in the last year.

Unpaid rent levels in the borough fell over four weeks in March by more than £51,000, bringing arrears for the last financial year down by nearly £150,000, from £1,596,709 in April 2013. 

Payday loan companies are nearly twice as popular as credit unions with hard-up Brits, a new report has revealed.

Insolvency body R3's survey of over 2,000 British adults found that 4% – equivalent to 1.9m people – had taken out a payday loan in the last six months, while just 2% – 754,000 – said they have taken a loan from a credit union in the same period. 

Here at Dssmove, we’re committed to finding you a property that says “yes” to DSS. We understand that if you’re in receipt of benefits, you can struggle to find a landlord willing to take you on as a tenant. Some think that DSS makes you a higher risk tenant; some have pre-conceived notions of people on benefits; and some simply don’t understand how DSS works. However, we pride ourselves on helping to find you a landlord with no misplaced prejudice towards those in receipt of benefits. We have hundreds of DSS welcome properties available to rent, with more added almost every day.  

The Department for Work and Pensions has today published a new guide for local authorities and social landlords to help them understand arrangements for the payment of housing benefit under universal credit for people in temporary accommodation.

Q. Why has the Department for Work and Pensions decided to make payments of the housing element in Universal Credit directly to claimants in temporary accommodation?  

Changes to housing benefit in England, Scotland and Wales are creating "financial hardship and distress" for disabled people, MPs have warned.

The reduction of payments for social tenants deemed to have a larger home than they need have hit vulnerable people not intended as targets, the Work and Pensions Committee said.