Housing benefit changes 'will affect 1.71m households'

A study carried out by the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion, into the impacts of the Government's radical reform of the welfare system found:

• The income of households claiming benefit will be an estimated £1,165 a year, or £31 a week, lower in 2015/16 as a result of reforms excluding the Universal Credit.
• the effect of housing benefit changes will affect 1.71 million households, 1.18 million of which contain no one in work.

• Overall 45% of working age households receive one of the main benefits or tax credits and 59% of welfare cuts will fall on households where someone has a job.
• The study also suggested that just 155,000 workless households may mitigate the effects by finding employment, and 115,000 by moving.