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Friday, February 18, 2011benefits

Home front

Until now the debate about the impact on the capital of the government's housing benefit reforms has focused almost solely on the private rented sector: some have predicted that around 80,000 households will eventually be forced to move home, the great majority vacating the more expensive Inner London boroughs and moving to the poorer suburban areas. The quarrels about the likelihood of such an outcome will now be broadened to encompass some 70,000 London households in the social rented sector - Council and housing association homes - which the government calculates have more space than they need and accordingly anticipates cutting their housing benefit by an average of £21 a week. I've taken a first look at the the Department for Communities and Local Government's impact assessment here . How many of the affected households will end up having to move? Where will they go ? Might they swell still further the numbers of low income households effectively forced to move home by the government's drive to slash welfare spending? Perhaps the picture of mass outward migration by London's poor will prove to have been unduly pessimistic, as some prominent borough Tories contend . But if that proves to be the case, might there be another story to be told? After all, if you don't move despite your income falling in relation to your rent, you have to spend less money on something. What might it be? Heating? Food? Clothes? This story has a long, long way to run. The Guardian on London Pub of the year award goes to a London local for first time London's youth volunteers are key to Olympic success London landmarks to star at Olympics Olympics tickets details released Crackdown on Olympics ticket touts Olympics aquatics centre race against time 7/7 inquest: MI5 accused of trying to gag justice London cycle hire users can cut scheme's carbon emissions Running London: Leg 14 - Mill Hill to Golders Green Tower Hamlets: Mayor Lutfur, Labour and beyond London Fire Brigade firm running out of cash Sir John Soane museum's lost gallery is flushed out 100 Club saved by Converse deal London blogosphere I added five transport blogs to the Guardian's growing list of Top London Bloggers this week: London Reconnections (which should have been there months ago); ASLEF Shrugged ; ibikelondon ; London Cyclist ; and Bollards of London , which celebrates a taken-for-granted feature of the capital's streets with the same simple yet insightful brilliance as London Shopfronts . Another star transport blog, Annie Mole's Going Underground, has just filed the following: This morning sees another of the experiments to "race against the London Underground". Over the years running, cycling even walking have all been pitted against travelling on the Tube. The latest is a challenge by Stephen Wright who's going to see if he can run 17 routes faster than Sophie from Quonospotter can travel the same routes by Tube. For Stephen, the race is all part of a charity fund-raising campaign. As I write, he and Sophie have already set off. For Annie Mole's full report click here . To gaze at an entire galaxy of Top London Bloggers click here . Coming up I'll be speaking on housing issues at tomorrow's Progressive London conference . Fellow contributors to the day's programme will include London Assembly members Len Duvall (Labour), Caroline Pidgeon (Lib Dem) and Jenny Jones (Green) along with Unite's Len McCluskey and Ken Livingstone. On Wednesday, the Feburary Mayor's Question Time will be devoted to continuing scrutiny of Boris Johnson's 2011/12 budget. Next week being school half-term, my blog might document an educational excursion to one of the capital's temples of culture. On the other hand, it might not. But please pay it a visit anyway. Have a good weekend.

Source: The Guardian ↗

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