Advertisement

  1. National

George Osborne 'finds' £12bn of welfare cuts

Chancellor George Osborne said he has "found" the £12 billion of benefit cuts promised in the Tory election manifesto.

Measures expected to be announced in Wednesday's budget include cutting the amount of social housing cash available to council and housing association tenants, slashing the benefits cap to £23,000 a year in London and reducing funding to the BBC by £650 million a year.

View all 6 updates ›

Osborne looks set to cut social housing cash

Chancellor George Osborne is cracking down on housing subsidies Credit: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Chancellor George Osborne looks set to cut the amount of social housing cash available to council and housing association tenants, according to reports.

Osborne is expected to use his summer Budget to clampdown on taxpayer-funded subsidies for social housing tenants who earn more than £30,000 per household, or £40,000 in London, meaning they will have to pay a market or near market rent in future.

Currently the earnings cap at which housing associations and local authorities are able to charge tenants market rents is £60,000.

The housing subsidy cut is expected to affect 9 % of people in England who currently rent at lower than market rents and is hoped to help the government raise an extra £50 million a year by 2018-19.

More top news