The DWP have no idea how many disabled people will be made homeless by the Green Paper proposals, the Disability News Service (DNS) has learnt.  This is in spite of growing evidence that the effects could be catastrophic.

DNS made a number of Freedom of Information (FOI) requests after reading supported housing consultant Joe Halewood’s blog posts about the benefit cap.

The benefit cap limits the amount of benefits working-age claimants can receive, but claimants in receipt of PIP or the limited capability for work-related activity (LCWRA) element of universal credit (UC) are exempt from the cap.

Halewood has pointed out that loss of PIP will also lead to the loss of thousands of pounds more in annual income for many claimants who become subject to the benefits cap, especially those with higher housing costs in places like London.  This will inevitably result in some disabled claimants becoming homeless.

However, in response to DNS’ requests, the DWP revealed that it did not have any figures on how many current claimants would become subject to the benefit cap because of the Green Paper cuts.  Without this information, it cannot make any judgement on the effects on homelessness amongst claimants who lose PIP and/or UC LCWRA.

Nor could it provide any documents that showed that the issue had been discussed with ministers.

This comes at a time when homelessness amongst disabled households in England is already rising.

Analysis by Crisis shows that more than 60,000 disabled households in England faced homelessness last year, an increase of nearly 75% since 2019.

And only today, St Mungos issued an open letter on behalf of the homelessness sector urging the government to rethink the welfare reforms.

Thirteen organisations signed the letter, warning that cutting vital benefits will push more people into poverty and destitution, and make it harder for those already affected by homelessness to rebuild their lives.

The letter points out that between October to December 2024, just over a fifth (21%) of households facing homelessness had some sort of physical ill health or disability.

The government are asking MPs to vote on changes to the benefits system without having carried out even a rudimentary assessment of what effect the changes will have on homelessness amongst disabled households.

It is another reason for MPs to refuse to back these reforms until all the data they need to make an informed decision has been made available to them.

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  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 9 days ago
    Not just the impact of the benefits cap. Most people private renting have to use PIP to top up the part of the rent the housing benefit doesn't cover
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 17 hours ago
      @Jane Absolutely. We have a gap of £300 a month between housing benefit and rent (2 disabled adult children). I don’t think I can go through homelessness again and have promised myself oblivion.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 9 days ago
    "War is peace", "Freedom is slavery" - G Orwell 1984 


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    · 9 days ago
    Once again I see our PM is talking about increasing defence spending to the tune of 15bn and raising the spending to 3% of GDP. That amount is basically half of what is spent on Welfare. So what are we defending the people being left behind? Why do we have to have arms to protect whom and what ? Surely it cannot be to protect the poor? If the rich are so concerned about their defence then they should dig deeper into their pockets as it is sure as hell not going to be for protecting us.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 11 days ago
    https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2025/may/29/ministers-consider-tweaks-to-soften-welfare-cuts-before-key-vote

    Reports about the Transitional period in to finding other benefits could go on. 
    Think we would know what we are entitled to and be on it already, enless the Labour Party are going to interduce something which I very much dought..

    I really hope all the MP's against will not be fooled by this stupid tweek.

    Shame they can't vote to get rid of the three clowns at the top and never see again.



  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 11 days ago
    I have heard that this Labour Party is tweaking the proposal in a" Transitional period " if you lose benefit. A you tuber said it was going to be for mandatory reconsideration  and tribunal appeal. Is this true?
    I presume you still will have a work coach during this period?

    If this is true, I dread to think how long it would take if everyone took to a tribunal.

    I am still waiting for my pip tribunal that I started on the 18th of November 24.

    But as we all know, at the top Labour doesn't care they just want to kill off non working people

    It sums up labour when Timms just walks past a disabled person having a seizure. DISGRACEFUL....

    Let hope all the tories do vote aganst the reforms just to p**s Labour off..
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 11 days ago
    Back when I first got DLA in 2009, it used to actuallt pay for the extra costs as designed (though not all). Now I need PIP to cover basic costs such as the bedroom tax, the electricity top ups, council tax, all of which have overtaken my ability to afford them with my weekly ESA. They have no idea how much it costs just to live with a roof over your head.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 9 days ago
      @Cecelia The Norwegians were smart in putting it away into an investment fund while we did squander it along with the Dutch!
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 10 days ago
      @James Successive governments had all the North Sea Oil money but unlike Norway with theirs chose too squander it.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 10 days ago
      @James You can't pay off the national debt in ten years as it stands at 2.8 trillion.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 11 days ago
      @Al I find it laughable when governments speak about fiscal rules. A good fiscal rule would be is not to borrow and pay out billions in interest and find the money through taxes enough to pay the national debt off over 10 years and then once that is achieved use the real savings to plough back into the economy and improve everyone's lives not the rich by giving them tax breaks now and then converting it to paying interest which only the banks benefit from! Had this rule been followed in the fist place the national debt would not be as high as it is today. That is how much that has actually been given away for the country to pay off. Tax reductions are never a good idea as the whole nation ends up paying for it but politicians don't wish for us to wise up to what they are doing for their rich mates and their bank friends. I will be long dead and gone but I hope the younger generation wise up to what they are being really lumbered with by our crooked politicians and their friends
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 12 days ago
    The evening standard has picked the story up on the dangers of further homelessness

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/welfare-reforms-will-lead-to-rise-in-homelessness-charities-warn-government/ar-AA1FLqa8

  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    The dwp have no idea about anything I went to see my work coach for my lcw uc interview other day and said would my autism been “cured” after 2 weeks of gardening??
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 1 days ago
      @wobble wobble wobble wibble Absolutely  disgusting.who do they think they are ..they are doing the same to my son putting the pressure on him I was livid ...I will be attending the next one with him and God help them if they pressure him in front of me..
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 6 days ago
      @george25 If this barbaric system isn't challenged we'll have so many complaints it'll take years to respond to any reports of cruelty &/or or bad manners/discrimination or lack of a customer focus. There will be so many reports with the sick and disabled suffering so we must stop the Green Paper in it's tracks. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 6 days ago
      @Kat Rehman When I worked as a JC Clerical Officer we had to produce proof of at least 5 GCSE's above C and sit a test. That's out of the window now clearly. I've met a few unpleasant "work coaches" who have the whip cracked above them so can't respond to suffering & disability with any empathy or knowledge. Probably find some WC's are previous claimants pushed into the job. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 11 days ago
      @James h It reminds me of a situation a while back when i was transitioned from IB to ESA and was put in the work related group. I decided to go to tribunal to be put in the support group (which i eventually won) but in the meantime awaiting the tribunal date i was called in once to meet a work coach. Horrid woman. My mother accompanied me whilst this "work coach" started lecturing me about looking for work etc and then tried to get me to sign a commitment stating if i didn't  "i wouldn't have any extra money for cigarettes or alcohol"  to which me and my mother replied i neither drink or smoke! she proceeded to ignore that and started to "advise" me on my mental health issues saying such nonsense as going out for a walk would miraculously help me! at this point i asked if she was medically qualified to give such advice because if she was not then that is illegal and she told me how do i know she is not qualified? i explained if she was medically qualified she wouldn't be working in a job centre and asked was she qualified then? again she ignored that. total disrespect and lack of empathy. that thankfully was the last time i had to deal with any work coaches but i recieved my ESA to UC managed migration notice a few weeks ago so will need to transition over before the end of july. Dreading having to see or communicate with one of these work coaches whilst i get my claim and transitional protection sorted.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 11 days ago
      @D.R. Work coaches don't care. 3 years ago I had to move to one of the develved nations as I would have been homeless elsewhere, and left my job of 13 years. 13 years not claiming anything. I've never had a whole payment of UC , and found part time work within 2 weeks of my arrival. When I finally got social housing here, and changed jobcentres, my new work coach informed me at my very first meeting with her that benefits weren't a lifestyle choice! I said neither was being homeless and her reply was well you're housed now so what's the problem!?
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    THEY DO NOT CARE.
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    · 13 days ago
    They have us over a barrel.  
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    · 13 days ago
    I am currently under the crisis team after having another full blown mental breakdown. The crisis team members who are helping me have said that since the announcement of the cuts mental health breakdowns have doubled and they are concerned not only for now but the future. 

    I suffer with Bipolar disorder, psychosis, extreme anxiety, OCD and these benefits cuts have caused this breakdown as I am constantly worried, can't sleep my mind is shifting into mania as a coping strategy of escape and I HAVE NO HOPE FOR THE FUTURE.  No one is listening to us and it all feels hopeless. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 11 days ago
      @kevin Hi Kevin , at least we have Benefits and Work, and the Disability News Service, they definitely listen.
      best wishes, Denby
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 13 days ago
      @kevin Wishing you well, Kevin.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 13 days ago
      @kevin I'm so sorry, @kevin. Lots of leople are working to stop these cuts, so please try to stay hopeful.

      Is there anyone you can speak to face to face - your crisis team, maybe?

      Good work for posting here, anyhow - stay in touch!
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    Do they not have a duty to do these checks before?. I mean surely if they don’t and catastrophe happens which it will if cuts go ahead.. Hypothetically They should be criminally liable?. I mean I think we should be able to take them to court look at the Post Office . Someone I’m sure would support us legally as some kind of landmark case . 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 13 days ago
      @Helen Galloway Possibly, @Helen Galloway, but exactly "look at the Post Office". We're not in a fair world. We need to fight for right, not rely on restitution.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    I am just watching scams and scandals on bbc iplayer, about the bounce back loans the govt gave out during covid. Applications were not credit checked etc.
    So the government gave out £billions to fraudulent applications to non brits , who took the money , laundered it, and left the country , billions, that they are now trying to claw back from us .....

    Am almost speechless, hardly anybody is aware of this fact .

    So politicians gave all this money away, and now want to take it from us.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    Labour backbench MPs shouldn't vote for this bill because it is absolutely cruel, it means a lot of Neurodivergent communities and the disabled communities too are all going to suffer. It is not the ND and disabled fault that they have these conditions and we shouldn't be punished for this either, what labour is doing is very very evil, it is extremely evil and very reminiscent to Eugenics.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 13 days ago
      @Gritz It’s not reminiscent it IS death by disability 
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    Loss of PIP for those under 35 in private rented accommodation also means loss of the disability exemption from the rule that under 35s are only eligible for a room in a shared house rate. 

    Loss of PIP for social housing tenants also means loss of extra bedroom for a overnight carer exemption to the under occupation penalty/bedroom tax.

    Loss of PIP for those living in someone else's household also means loss of exemption from being treated as non dependent in the other person's home in regards to their housing support.  
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 13 days ago
      @john These are exactly the sort of specific (and endless seeming) examples of the knock on effect of loss of pip on other support, and mps need to be notified. These examples are cold hard facts and should cut through where compassion is missing.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    I receive full PIP, ESA and housing benefits for a number of mental health disorders and physical conditions, I am also a singe father of two autistic children.  At moment I  can only just pay all my bills, including the over inflated private rent for mould ridden house with a boiler that's not been serviced in ten years. If the cuts go a head my children and I will defiantly be homeless like countless others who are disabled, mentally or chronically ill. Labour promised to help the most vulnerable with housing, bills etc etc and now they seem hell bent on causing a homeless epidemic. It seems they want us out of their version of society as we do not fit the world in their view point. We are sub human to them and they have no empathy for what happens to us, 1930's Germany springs to mind with the contempt the are displaying for those who are disabled, mentally ill or chronically ill. 
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 11 days ago
      @sara Kevin ,it might be worth contacting Shelter for advice.
    • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
      · 13 days ago
      @kevin This is dreadful @kevin. Is there no one who could help with your housing situation, which is illegal? You must have contact with medical services, could you ask them? I wish I could do more for you.
  • Thank you for your comment. Comments are moderated before being published.
    · 13 days ago
    Spot on B&W! The lack of a through impact assessment shows the incredible credulity of this government in ignoring all conventions and good practices to ram something through no matter what the costs to individuals!

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