Make Work Pay - an open letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves ahead of the autumn budget

14 October 2024

Dear Chancellor Rachel Reeves,

We are a group of over 140 youth, homelessness and housing association organisations who urge you to support our campaign to Make Work Pay in supported accommodation. We share your commitment to making work pay and growing the economy in a way that benefits everyone.

We are asking you to remove the benefit trap that homeless young people in supported accommodation face when working.

Work is incredibly important for homeless young people – it's the chance to build confidence, gain financial independence and leave homelessness behind for good.  

However, the current benefits system punishes homeless young people living in supported accommodation who are just trying to work. Thousands are finding that their path to more money and an independent future is blocked because their housing benefit is tapered faster than their pay would increase if they started working more hours – leaving them with less overall income.

What is worse is that this only affects people living in supported accommodation because they receive their rent via legacy Housing Benefit. Private renters – who receive Universal Credit to support their rent – have a much more lenient taper rate and so get a fairer deal.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. As the Chancellor, you can fix this in October’s Budget and change the futures for thousands of homeless young people. Centrepoint estimates that the Treasury could save over £12 million a year by ending the benefit trap and supporting thousands of young people into work; with the actual saving likely to be much higher as there are thousands more people living in supported accommodation over 25.

You can unlock thousands of young people’s potential by lowering the Housing Benefit taper rate and increasing the applicable amount available under Housing Benefit.

The current system sets up young people experiencing homelessness to fail. At the start of their careers, we should be encouraging them to dream big. Instead, we have them facing an impossible choice: work fewer hours in less meaningful jobs to avoid getting into debt - or chase their career ambitions by working more hours but struggling to afford basic essentials.

We should be encouraging young people to dream big, whatever their background – rather than asking them to work more hours, for less overall income.

The benefit system should promote work and foster ambition, particularly for people just entering the jobs market. On 30 October, you have a chance to create that system; we urge you to take it.

An unjust benefit system that disincentivises work and hinders ambition is a broken system. On 30 October you have a chance to fix it, we urge you to take it.

Sincerely,

1625 Independent People

akt

Aberdeen Foyer

Adullam Homes

Alabare

Amber

Ayr Housing Aid Centre

Become

BHT Sussex

Broxtowe Youth Homelessness

Buttle UK

Canopy

Cardinal Hume Centre

Caring in Bristol

Carlisle Key

Centrepoint

CGL - Change, Grow, Live

Changing Lives

Christian Action Housing

Cirencester Housing for Young People

Citizen Housing

Clarion

Clocktower Sanctaury

Coatham House Projects

Commonweal

Community Campus 87

Coops Foyer

Coram

Coram Voice

Crossroads Derbyshire

Depaul Ireland

Depaul UK

Doorstep

Doorway

Drive Forward Foundation

End Furniture Poverty

End Youth Homelessness Cymru

Every Youth

Evolve Housing + Support

Extern

Falcon Support Services

Fat Macy's

Foyer Federation

Fully Focused (Million Youth Media)

G15

GISDA

Glass Door

Gloucestershire Nightstop

Greater Change

Greater Manchester Better Outcomes Partnerships (GMBOP)

Greater Manchester Mayor's Charity

Growth Company

Habitat for Humanity Great Britain

Herts Young Homeless

Home Connections

Homefinder Uk

Hopestead

Impact Initiatives

Include Youth

Inspirechilli

iWill

Key Unlocking Futures

Korban Project

L&Q

LandAid

Latch

Lifeshare

LivShare Housing & Consultancy

Llamau

Local Solutions

London Youth

MACS Supporting Children & Young People

Mayor's Fund for London

Missing People

Moving On

MTVH (Metropolitan and Thames Valley Housing)

My Bnk

My Life My Say

National Housing Federation

Network Homes

NHYC

Nightsafe

Nightstop Network

On Side

Only a Pavement Away

Origin Housing

Oxfordshire Youth

P3 - People Potential Possibilities

Park Lodge Project

Partnership for Young London

Proxy Address

Ravenhead Foyer

Red Thread

Redditch Nightstop

Rock Trust

Roundabout

Rush House

Safe and Sound Homes (SASH)

Settle

Shelter Community

Simon Community

SLEAP

Southend YMCA

Spring Housing Association

Springboard Opportunities

St. Christopher's Fellowship

St. Petrocs

St.Basil's

Stepping Stone Projects

Stonewall Housing

Street Soccer

Streetlink

Sussex Nightstop

Switchback

The Bridge

The Children's Society

The Running Charity

The Warren

The Whitechapel Centre

The Zone, Plymouth

Two Saints Limited

UK Youth

Verve Place

Volunteering matters

Wipers Youth

Wyre Forest & South Worcestershire Nightstop and Mediation Service

YMCA Downslink

YMCA East Surrey

YMCA England & Wales

YMCA Exeter

YMCA London City & North

YMCA Scotland

YMCA Trinity Group

You Thrive

Young Camden Foundation

Young Devon

Young Women's Housing Project

Young Women's Trust

Your Housing Group

Your Place

Youth Access

Youth Concern

Youth Employment

YWCA

More information: Making Work Pay in supported accommodation | Centrepoint