The cuts to be imposed by the coalition government could see a return to large numbers of people sleeping rough and thousands more suffering dramatic cuts in their income, warn the city’s Greens. The warning comes in the wake of a recent report published by homelessness charity Crisis (1). The report says that 936,960 households across the UK currently claiming local housing allowance will be affected and on average, these households will lose over £600 a year. The report also warns that cuts to housing benefit could have hidden costs in the future, in order to deal with the social problems of homelessness, including health problems and providing accommodation.

Ian Elliott, Exeter Green Party’s housing spokesperson said:

“These particular cuts will hit those on low incomes the hardest, leaving more people struggling to pay their rent, falling into serious debt and ultimately more people becoming homeless. Many people in our community are facing economic uncertainty and even redundancy. The government could avoid these cuts by properly tackling tax avoidance and tax evasion perpetrated by some of the wealthiest people in the country, which could raise billions of pounds a year.”