Some of the poorest could see a 20% cut in income if a proposed change to housing benefit for private sector tenants goes through.

Crisis has voiced its opposition to proposed Government plans to changes to the Local Housing Allowance (the new form of housing benefit for private sector tenants).

At the moment, tenants who find accommodation costing less than the full allowance are allowed to keep up to £15 a week.

This flexibility was an integral part of the Government's original design of LHA, which was introduced last year.

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Crisis believes that the removal of excess payments will have a very large impact on those who currently receive it, who are likely already to be struggling to make ends meet on a limited income. For someone on Jobseekers' Allowance, £15 a week represents just under a 20% cut in income.

Leslie Morphy, Chief Executive of Crisis, said: "This proposal is ill-considered and potentially counterproductive.

"For people who are already struggling to keep their heads above water, £15 a week is a huge chunk of their income to lose.

"It's doubtful whether this move will even generate the envisaged cost savings as tenants will no longer have an incentive to look for a cheaper property and landlords might as well increase rent to the top LHA rate. It beggars belief that the Government intends to introduce this when, by its own admission, it has no idea what the impact on claimants will be. We urge the Government to reconsider."

(CD/BMcc)