Property owners need more help

A recent study has shown that homeowners receive the least help from the government.

15:01 29 October 2004

A recent study published by the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH) has shown that homeowners receive the least help from the government.

The study, carried out by professor Steve Wilcox, shows that those who are in a weak financial position, such as those suffering from debt or credit problems and own a home have received a cut in benefit and welfare.

Homeowners have been subjected to a 90 per cent cut in benefits since 1990/91, with grants and subsidies dropping from 9.3 billion to 933 million.

However, those people who rent have received a 113 per cent increase in benefits, with the amount available rising from 6.3 billion to 10.8 billion.

Peter Williams, deputy director general of the CML called for more consideration to be given to the disparity between the benefits available to those who rent to those who own their own home.

John Perry director of the CIH, said that homeowners were often overlooked, adding: "With home-ownership now accounting for more than two-thirds of the households in the UK, it is inevitable that poverty problems can be experienced among those who own as well as among those who rent.

Mr Perry called for the government to take this into account, adding: "This description of the dramatic nature of the reduction in support should give policymakers pause for thought."