Pay rent, eat or keep warm? Growing numbers face hard choices as housing benefit gap grows

Wirral mother among renters turning to food banks as gap between a two-bed and housing benefit hits £158 a month – rising to as much as £324 in London Do you prioritise paying the rent, putting food on the table or keeping the house warm in winter? In practice, says Laura Braddock, a single mum from Wirral, Merseyside, you always pay the rent first and improvise the rest.

“If I’ve got a roof over our head, then everything else I can muddle through.” The pressing problem for Braddock, 39, is that muddling through is getting harder.

The monthly rent for her two-bedroom flat far outstrips the local housing allowance (LHA) she receives – and the gap may widen.

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