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Welfare Reform Bill

My Lords, I endorse what my noble friend has just said about the scarcity of properties around the country. I take his point about having to save money. I am certainly not against sharing in itself for this age range. However, for vulnerable groups it is very much more difficult. In some areas of the country, it will be very hard. We have heard a bit about the situations in rural Norfolk, Selkirkshire and London. I have some up-to-date figures on properties to rent in Winchester, where a lot of claimants are being advised to move to Eastleigh or Southampton due to the scarcity of property to rent in Winchester, because people simply are not moving at the moment. Historically there have been between 110 and 150 properties available to rent in Winchester. Last week there were 83, six of which were affordable to people in receipt of local housing allowance. The cheapest two-bed was £75 above the LHA level; the cheapest four-bed was £50 above it. That puts the matter into a bit of context for the moment and is why a lot of us are very concerned about this policy kicking in while the economic situation is so dire and people are not moving.