Author: Ami McCarthy

One year of campaigning against DSS discrimination

22 August 2019 by Ami McCarthy

August 2018 marked the launch of our DSS discrimination campaign. It’s an issue we were repeatedly seeing highlighted as one of the most consistent and pernicious problems our clients were encountering.

Our advisers spend hours every week desperately searching for properties within our clients’ price-range, only to then have the options reduced further or eliminated completely by ‘no DSS’ policies. Seeing this clause on adverts for privately rented properties means that if you receive some or all of your income … Read more

Welfare safety net is broken, MPs find

5 August 2019 by Ami McCarthy

‘As a nation, I believe we all want a decent safety net: if you’re facing a difficult moment in life, the state should be there to help you.’ – Amber Rudd, Secretary of State for the Department of Work and Pensions, 11 January 2019.

The government says it supports the welfare safety net – but is it still working? Back in December 2018, we submitted evidence to the parliamentary work and pensions committee’s inquiry into the welfare safety net. The … Read more

Stop DSS Discrimination: Live blog

17 November 2018 by Ami McCarthy

This blog rounds up everything we’re doing in the fight to end DSS discrimination.

We’re campaigning against discrimination faced by renters receiving Housing Benefit. So-called ‘no DSS’ policies are unfairly locking hundreds of thousands of people out of homes they could otherwise afford, pushing them closer to homelessness. You can join our campaign here.

Stop by this blog regularly for the latest updates on the campaign!

9th August: The Mortgage Lender win

The Mortgage Lender today announced that they too … Read more

DSS Discrimination: letting agents' excuses

14 November 2018 by Ami McCarthy

Our DSS discrimination campaign has lifted the lid on practices and policies many would like to believe simply didn’t exist in 2018.

Recently Vicky Foxcroft, MP for Lewisham and Deptford, raised with us how shocked she had been to discover the impossible situation people were being put in. During regular constituency drop-in surgeries, Ms Foxcroft was repeatedly faced with constituents in receipt of housing benefit being denied somewhere to live by multiple letting agencies.

Shocked by the discriminatory practice and … Read more

What does the Budget mean for Universal Credit?

31 October 2018 by Ami McCarthy

So, there we have it. The final Budget before Brexit.

An interesting one. Or was it? Well, there were a few terrible jokes (mainly about toilets), and an interesting display of the most pantomime aspects of politics – boos, heckles, cheers, and jeers.

But what does it all mean for Universal Credit? Broadly speaking it means an acknowledgement of errors, more time, and a bit more money. This is still not even close to the money that was cut from … Read more