Cruddas gets the wrong end of the stick

Private landlords are refusing to cut their rents down to the level of caps imposed by ministers, Sky reports, quoting The Observer. This is because landlords are continuing to enjoy a healthy rental market buoyed by young professionals who cannot afford to buy.

Jon Cruddas, the Labour MP for Dagenham, says:

It is an exercise in social and economic cleansing. It is tantamount to cleansing the poor out of rich areas - a brutal and shocking piece of social engineering.

But is it good value for taxpayers to pay high rents on behalf of people on welfare?

Similarly David Orr of the National Housing Federation says that:

London is one of the most vibrant and socially mixed cities in the world - and yet the diversity, for which it is so famous, is under threat from the changes to housing benefit.

Mr Orr, should a family on average earnings in Salford be subsidising London landlords to promote diversity in London?

The government has replied that:

Some private landlords target those on Housing Benefit because they can command higher rents from tenants causing a knock on effect on rents in the area.

The current way that it is administered is unfair. It's not right that some families on benefits have been able to live in homes that most working families could not afford.

However, we are absolutely committed to supporting the most vulnerable families and have tripled our Discretionary Housing Payments to provide a safety net for those who need it.

For the state to throw taxpayers' cash at promoting "diversity" in its richest city is hobby government - ministers indulging their whims at our expense.

Cruddas should be hanging his head in shame at Labour's profligacy.