You must move to a cheaper house, minister tells the poor

A Treasury minister stoked further controversy over the Budget today by saying the poor should move house to maintain their income.

Financial Secretary Mark Hoban spoke out after a study by economists claimed the emergency tax and cuts package would hit poorer families hardest of all.

Mr Hoban said the analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies was flawed because, for example, people facing cuts in housing benefit could save money by moving.

"People will be able to look for cheaper accommodation so they won't necessarily be affected in terms of their income," he told BBC radio.

"That's a choice people have to face. They will have to take into account the money they will get and think about the accommodation they can afford on that."

But Labour leadership candidate Andy Burnham hit back: "They just don't have a clue what it is like for people on low incomes. You cannot tell a mother of four that she has to move house or else take a big cut in family income. This is all about cutting without compassion."

Housing benefit claims will be capped at £20,000 a year, compared with up to £104,000 at present.

Today's report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies claimed that over four years the poorest 10 per cent of households would be worse off by £422.83, while the richest tenth would be only £339.12 worse off.