Shift spending from housing benefit to house building, a new report has argued.

The report also claims tackling low pay and unemployment is the best way of lifting people out of poverty and cutting the housing benefit bill.

The report, from the Chartered Institute of Housing (CIH), concludes that short-term measures that cut the amount of benefits people can receive (such as the bedroom tax and the benefit cap) do nothing to tackle the causes of welfare dependency and are unlikely to have any significant impact in reversing it.

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CIH chief executive Grainia Long said: "The housing benefit bill has increased so significantly because of the problems in our housing and labour markets – we need to tackle those issues rather than relying on stop gap measures which at their worst can increase poverty and misery for already poor and vulnerable people. If the government really wants to cut welfare spending, it should be subsidising the construction of genuinely affordable homes not housing benefit. Combine that with action on low pay and unemployment and we have a chance to create a welfare system that works for the long term."

(CD/IT)