Badenoch denies housing benefit cuts plan would make people homeless

Conservative work and pensions secretary Kemi Badenoch told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that the party’s plan to cut £4 billion from the housing‑benefit budget would not make anyone homeless, insisting existing tenants and pensioners would be protected. The proposal, outlined during Prime Minister’s Questions, would fund the government’s aim to raise defence spending to 3 % of GDP by 2030 by freezing social‑sector rents, lowering Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates for new tenancies and eventually aligning existing tenancies with lower rates. Badenoch suggested that people living in high‑cost areas would need to “move somewhere cheaper”, arguing that national security must be prioritised because, without it, “there aren’t going to be any benefits”.

The plan has sparked fierce opposition from opposition leaders and housing charities. Greater Manchester’s mayor Andy Burnham warned that cutting housing benefit could exacerbate homelessness, creating “hundreds of thousands of children in temporary accommodation” and costing councils more in emergency housing. Generation Rent chair Karen Buck echoed this, saying the cuts would push renters into severe financial hardship and increase local‑council expenses. Shelter’s campaigns director Mairi Macrae called the idea of families relocating unrealistic, noting that LHA rates are set locally and families would still struggle to find affordable homes wherever they moved. The Conservatives’ broader fiscal package also includes reinstating the two‑child benefit cap, scrapped by Labour earlier in the year, to help meet the defence‑spending target.

If implemented, the reforms would affect the growing number of claimants – more than one million have joined the housing‑benefit system since 2020 as private rents have surged, pushing the total cost of the programme to a projected £39 billion this year. The government argues that freezing rent increases would save at least £2.2 billion, while lowering LHA rates for new tenancies would deliver another £1.8 billion in savings. Critics contend that the cuts would disproportionately impact low‑income households in expensive regions, potentially increasing reliance on temporary accommodation and straining local authorities. The debate is set to continue into the spring spending review, where the timing and scale of the defence‑spending increase will be finalised.

⚡ Effects Interpreter