Local Plan — Needs To Be More Provision For Real Affordable Housing

Central Bedfordshire Council expects the Homelessness Reduction Act to increase the number of cases that they will have to deal with by 80%. This news was gleaned by Antonia Ryan, the Leader of the Labour Group on CBC. The government will provide some money to the council in order to help with the additional costs but nowhere near enough. In the last year, there has already been a more than doubling in the number of cases coming to CBC for help. They blame this on an increase in private rents to unaffordable levels and cuts to benefits. It is telling that in previous years anyone with rent arrears was almost always deemed to be ‘intentionally homeless’ and so ineligible for help. Now it is accepted that low wages, high rents and inadequate levels of benefit mean that people can get into arrears despite their best efforts. Consequently, council officers have to spend time investigating such cases in detail. Currently, CBC is advertising for additional staff to deal with this m