Housing benefit

The lowest rung of the housing ladder is getting ever further out of reach for the average first-time buyer, surveyors warn.

Hundreds of thousands of pounds in housing benefit payments have “disappeared” after being paid to one of Britain’s biggest property agents, Channel 4 News can reveal.

New figures show there are now more tenants in the private rented sector than the social rented sector in England, but the number of owner-occupiers was at its lowest for a decade.

The court of appeal upholds the legality of government cutbacks in the benefits system, as judges reject accusations that the so-called “bedroom tax” unlawfully discriminates against the disabled.

Food banks are “consistently” seeing an increase in demand, a Defra-commissioned report concludes – but what are they and are benefits cuts to blame for their proliferation?

Twenty-seven bishops condemn the government’s “punitive” welfare reforms, which they say have forced people into food and fuel poverty.

With another housing bubble looming, Professor Danny Dorling, of Oxford University, joins Allister Heath, editor of City AM, to talk about what should be done.

With Channel 4’s Benefits Street debate shining a spotlight on the issues raised by the programme, we explain why the series has made such powerful TV viewing.

With weekly rents soaring to more than half of average local wages in most of London, a generation of young renters has been left asking: “Where can I afford to live?”

With spiraling rents and mortgages hard to come by, Politician Diane Abbott advocates rent control in London, private landlord Richard Blanco disagrees.

With more and more people in the UK renting property, Channel 4 News asks if rental laws should be changed to protect tenants from being evicted.

As wealthy landlord Fergus Wilson says he has no problems evicting tenants on housing benefit, even when not in arrears, his tenants tell Channel 4 News they are all nervous.