Our Crisis campaigners are key to what we do: through our pressure in the last year, we made sure that the freeze on housing benefit ended.

But that is just the start - after years of cuts and freezes the gaps between housing benefit and rents have grown wider and more people have been pushed into homelessness. When some people struggle, it has an impact on our whole society. And right now, thousands of people are locked in a struggle to keep a roof over their heads and pay for the basics like food and bills. When the pressure gets too much, people lose their home. 

We need housing benefit to cover the cost of rent. 

This week's Budget was a missed opportunity to do that. The Government previously announced housing benefit will rise with inflation, which means just £10 more per month towards housing costs. But we know in huge swathes of England, families have to give up around a quarter of their weekly food shop (£59) to pay their rent.

You can watch our quick explainer on this by clicking on the image below:

Meeting the shortfall in their rent means families have no option but to make huge sacrifices on other basic necessities. Until we have enough social housing to meet demand, we cannot let this continue. 

The next Spending Review, which decides funding for UK Government departments for the next three years, is our chance to change this. But we need our politicians to make the case. 

You can help by asking your MP now to call for housing benefit to cover the cost of rent, to prevent thousands of people from becoming homeless. To do this now, visit the following page of our website. 

Article date: 11.03.20