https://imd2025.co.uk/map2025/
Tag: hardship
‘A cruel penalty’: disabled people face lower benefit payments if conditions not deemed lifelong
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/mar/29/disabled-benefit-claimants-face-lower-payments-if-conditions-not-deemed-lifelong-charities-say Hundreds of thousands of severely ill and disabled people making new claims will have their benefits cut if the government assesses that their condition might improve, charities have said. In April, the health element of universal credit – an extra payment for people assessed as too unwell to work or prepare for work –…
Millions in England to pay higher water bills after suppliers appeal
Anglian, Southern, Wessex and South East allowed to raise charges more than originally permitted by watchdog
https://www.theguardian.com/money/2026/mar/10/england-higher-water-bills-anglian-southern-wessex-south-east?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other Millions of households in England will pay even higher water bills than previously expected, after the competition regulator gave its final verdict on industry spending plans for the coming years. Five water companies had appealed to the Competition and Markets Authority to let them raise bills higher than was initially allowed by Ofwat, the…
Cuts to non-health-related benefits shift claimants onto disability benefits
https://ifs.org.uk/news/cuts-non-health-related-benefits-shift-claimants-disability-benefits Disability benefits are intended to support people living with disabilities with the additional living costs they face as a result of their condition. They form just one part of the working-age benefit system, and people can claim disability benefits at the same time as other benefits such as universal credit. Studying four cuts to…
Homelessness in England 2025
https://england.shelter.org.uk/professional_resources/policy_and_research/policy_library/homelessness_in_england_2025 Findings include: there are an estimated 382,618 people who are now homeless in England, including 175,025 children.this represents an 8% increase (28,602 people) in just a year, and means that at least one in 153 people in England are homeless (65 per 10,000 population).there are 202,587 people homeless in London, which is the equivalent…
rightsnet updates on today’s budget include:
Budget 2025: Two-child limit within universal credit to be removed from April 2026 Budget 2025: Extension of targeted case reviews in universal credit expected to achieve further £1.3 billion in savings in 2030/2031 Budget 2025: Government confirms that ‘relevant threshold’ for purposes of calculating surplus earnings under universal credit to stay at £2,500 for an…
Budget 2025 fact sheet: Cutting the Cost of Living
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/budget-2025-fact-sheet-cutting-the-cost-of-living This Budget takes levies off energy bills to save families £150 on average next year, and up to £300 for some poorer households. The historic decision to remove the two-child limit in full from April 2026 will lift 450,000 children out of poverty -rising to around 550,000 alongside other measures announced this year, such…
Falling Behind: The government is failing private renters by freezing Local Housing Allowance
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/policy/publications/falling-behind-the-government-is-failing-private-renters-by-freezing-local/ Executive SummaryLocal Housing Allowance (LHA) is intended to ensure the cheapest 30% of properties in an area are affordable to people on low incomes. To do this, LHA was designed to increase as rents increase, by being regularly set at the 30th percentile of local rents. However, it has endured a period of successive…
Work Capability Assessment delays are leaving disabled people in limbo
https://wearecitizensadvice.org.uk/work-capability-assessment-delays-are-leaving-disabled-people-in-limbo-a1deb1e457cb Disabled people can get extra support under Universal Credit (UC) if they’re found eligible after a Work Capability Assessment (WCA). But many of those who come to Citizens Advice are waiting months, if not over a year, for this assessment. In the meantime, many struggle to afford essential costs and risk being pushed into…
Understanding the savings, debt and financial resilience of low-to-middle income families
https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/money-on-my-mind/ Key findingsBritish households are carrying far lower levels of consumer debt than in the past. Among the poorer half of families, average debt has fallen from £2,617 in 2006-08 to £2,256 in 2020-22 – a 14 per cent real-terms drop. Higher-income households have seen an even larger fall of 21 per cent over the…