Con-Lib Coalition housing benefit cuts - Single mother Vic Plaistowe says ‘Cap will make me homeless’

Published: 30 July 2010
by TOM FOOT

A SINGLE mother in Soho has warned she will be made homeless and forced to leave Westminster under government reforms to the housing benefit system.

Vic Plaistowe, who has lived in Archer Street for 17 years, said the changes would “destroy” Soho’s village community and trigger a massive decline in important volunteer work.

The 43-year-old has set up a group campaigning against “housing benefit and local housing cuts in Westminster”.

Ms Plaistowe said: “My daughter and I risk being made homeless if the reform goes ahead. 

“I’m a lone parent and know several other lone parents who volunteer their time – something that this new housing reform has affected badly. 

“I have spoken to my doctor, who said he is already prescribing more anti-depressants because families are cracking up.”

It is estimated that more than 5,000 families in Westminster face having to find hundreds of pounds extra each week to pay expensive central London rents – or move out of the borough – after the government proposed capping housing benefit claims to £400. In the past up to £2,000 was made available.

Ms Plaistowe says she needs housing benefit because ill-health prevents her from holding down a full-time job. 

Instead, she volunteers for various charities and community groups – including Soho Green, the Soho Society, the Soho Caring Agency, West End Time Bank and Soho Action Plan. 

She said volunteering helped her “get out of a rut” after falling victim to depression.

Her work has helped improve green spaces in Soho, bringing flower baskets to six streets. 

She said: “If you look out of any window, you can see there are jobs to be done. A lot of good can be done by changing the system so that it encourages volunteering, without penalising those on benefit.  

“Instead of simply asking ‘What are you doing to find work’, the government should be asking ‘What volunteer work are you doing?’ 

“What the government propose to do is disempowering and you cannot disempower people without negative consequences.”

Ms Plaistowe said she had struggled to get through to housing benefit offices and that reception staff were “shocked and depressed” at “having to deal with people in tears and cracking up on the phone”.

She added: “This is about getting people together and pooling ideas. You can affect the government. It just takes one person to come up with a good idea. 

“It is up to everyone to join together and come up with better solutions to this – and fast – as the government propose to have legislation set in stone by the beginning of November.”