Housing benefit

Our report from the County Durham village which residents say is “like Beirut” has raised many questions. Channel 4 News North of England Correspondent Ciaran Jenkins has some of the answers.

This is Horden, County Durham. Once a thriving mining community. Now emptied of jobs, and increasingly of the people who gave it life and soul.

The number of tenants being turned out of their homes by bailiffs rises to a record high, but the number of private landlords making claims to evict tenants falls, Ministry of Justice statistics show.

It is bitterly cold, you notice a rough sleeper in a doorway and wonder what you can do. Here is how you can help.

Working families are being forced to turn to food banks to make ends meet, the Archbishop of Canterbury says ahead of the publication of a government report. But where is your nearest bank?

It was the chancellor’s big autumn giveaway. Now many warn that cuts to stamp duty could have the opposite effect: increasing house prices and leaving more people frozen out of home ownership.

Thousands of young people across Britain have no home and are left moving from couch to couch just to stay off the streets, Ciaran Jenkins investigates the sofa surfing generation.

Prime Minister David Cameron unveils a 20 per cent discount for first-time buyers – but will the move still freeze most people out of the housing market?

Nick Clegg voted for the so-called “bedroom tax” more than two years ago. But he’s since changed his mind. Cue cries of “unbelievable hypocrisy”.

Becky lives in Hull with her mother and sister. The family has just £1.20 per person, per day, to spend on food. She created a manga cartoon to describe the challenges of living in food poverty.

There were fears the government’s help to buy scheme would just fuel the housing bubble, particularly in London. But that has not proved to be the case so far, with more take-up outside the capital.

Mortgage applicants face tougher checks as lenders delve more deeply into people’s personal lives, from their plans for parenthood to how they will spend their old age.

As new Trussell Trust figures show that food banks fed almost 1m people last year, Epsom and Ewell food bank manager Jonathan Lees writes from the front line.