Welfare Reform Bill

My hon. Friend is undoubtedly correct. For those and other reasons, landlords are increasingly reluctant, in whatever part of the private rented sector, to consider people on housing benefit, which particularly affects young people. Costs were not much discussed in Committee, but they are important. Any estimate of the cost of the amendment would vary according to the assumptions written into it. If behavioural factors are not taken into account, the DWP estimates the cost of the proposal at about £20 million. On that basis, we can assume that my amendment would cost about half that—about £10 million; but to be sure, let us say £12 million, as there may be more people at the top rather than the bottom of the system. When behavioural factors are considered, we have to go back to before the restriction was introduced. The number of people in such accommodation is 12,000 at present but was about 32,000 in 1996, before the introduction of the restrictions, so when we add in behavioural factors we reach a figure of £30 million. During the debates in Committee I was interested to hear the Minister suggest that part of the reason the number of people in single room rent accommodation had gone down was the fact that many more of them were in employment. If we take that into account, the figure is likely to be smaller. None the less, whichever way we work out the figure, my amendment is unlikely to cost any more than £30 million or, if we take behavioural factors into account, £40 million or £50 million. To put that into context, about 800,000 people who live in the private rented sector are in receipt of some form of housing benefit and the overall housing benefit bill is about £12 billion. This is a modest amendment. Much discussion took place about tenant empowerment. When the restriction was introduced, it was suggested that tenants should negotiate with landlords, but the research carried out in 2001 blew out of the water the idea that that was a practical reality. The latest proposals suggest that tenants in whatever part of the housing benefit regime should be able to shop around because they will know in advance what their housing benefit is likely to be. The evidence from the pathfinders does not offer a great deal of support for that proposition. Although there has been a welcome and recognised fall of about £3 in the gap between the rent that tenants pay and the benefit that they receive, the percentage of those under 25 who are affected by a shortfall has stubbornly been maintained at 70 per cent.