Don't Cap My Benefits Panorama

I'm calling from the council about your benefits being cut.

You're going to lose £68.13 per week.

£95.33 per week.

Next, please.

The reason that you are being capped is because you are not working.

-COMPUTERISED VOICE:

-'Ticket number 757...'

My worst fears are confirmed.

It is going to be an accommodation outside of London.

-You don't...!

-You've got seven children.

It's not possible for you to afford to live in London.

They're going to pay that figure if I go out to work

but they can't pay my rent now?

I'm could pick up that computer and dash it down there.

A lot of people are suffering cos of this benefit cut

and a lot of people are out on the street.

Would you do it, sitting down raising five children? Really?

As men, sometimes you have to go do stuff you might not want to do.

My son, your and the office problem!

I'm only there for a year

and I can be uprooted all over again to come back to London.

It doesn't make any kind of sense.

'The reality is that all we're doing here is saying is that...

'nobody on benefits, people who are not working,

'should be earning more than the average earnings

'for the rest of Britain.'

Hi. I'm from Brent Council.

I've come with regards to the benefits cap.

What?

Brent Council's Welfare Reform Team are delivering details

of one of the most radical welfare reforms for 60 years,

it's called the Overall Benefit Cap.

I hate when they've got those draft excluders.

Introduced by the Government last August,

the cap means no-one out of work and on benefits

gets more money than the average working family.

Put their paper back in.

That's set at no more than £350 a week

in benefits for a single person,

and £500 for families.

We usually knock on the door.

Always stand back and see if anybody looks through the windows.

Oh, someone's up there.

KNOCKS ON DOOR

-They sometimes don't want to answer the door.

-Yeah.

There's not much we can do.

£29 is what you are losing per week from your housing benefit.

My husband has no job in this...

Yeah, if he's not working,

-we need to maybe refer him to somewhere where he can find work.

-OK.

Many will lose hundreds of pounds a week.

The Government's message is clear...

Hi, I'm from Housing and Benefit in Brent Council.

If you work at least 16 hours a week as a single parent

and 24 hours as a couple, you'll avoid the cap

and keep your house and benefits.

-I note that you are working.

-Yeah, part-time.

Have you made an application for working tax credit?

Just child tax credit.

Yeah, but because you are working 24 hours, you are entitled to it.

Across the UK,

housing benefit is usually enough to cover the rent.

In London, as rents are the highest in the country,

the cap could result in many people losing their homes.

Hold on. Hi, we're from the council.

Is your mum or dad in?

Yesar Almousawi and his team

have spent the last year warning people

how serious the impact of the Government's changes

are going to be.

We're doing the visits because we're hoping to make sure

people are aware they're being capped.

Some people just don't think it's going to happen,

they won't be affected, they just want to put their head in the sand.

It's good that they do come and tell us

that they've managed to get work

or they've managed to increase their hours, or something like that.

That's better for them and they can stay in their homes.

Implemented by the Government nationwide,

the cap is having the biggest impact in London boroughs like Brent.

Almost half of those capped live in the capital.

I will give my loyalty to the United Kingdom...

Brent is one of the most ethnically diverse

and deprived boroughs in the country.

Up to three times a week, the council's citizenship ceremony

marks the final stage in the journey

of those who want to become British citizens -

about 5,000 people in Brent each year.

We have Dragomir Sadifimov and Mariana Todorova.

APPLAUSE

That's excellent. Let's do that romantic shot with the Queen.

London's lack of cheap housing, combined with the cap,

hits large, vulnerable households hardest.

Councils like Brent say they have no choice

but to move them out of the capital.

NATIONAL ANTHEM PLAYS

The coalition Government believe the cap is fair and just,

saves money and encourages people into work.

The Labour Party broadly agrees.

Polls suggest that over 70% of us think it's a good idea.

'Ticket number 163, please...'

With access to Brent Council, filmed over seven months, we tell the story

of how the Government's new benefit changes are impacting on families.

He says you have to go Birmingham, no matter what.

Once you move, seven children will be without a school.

-We will be jobless.

-Ultimately, you are facing homelessness.

If it's a private sector bailiff's warrant tomorrow,

the eviction will be going ahead.

Awaz Osman originally came from Somalia

and has been living in Brent for 23 years.

He is now a British citizen.

Deadline is tomorrow for the bailiff.

That means that tomorrow, at six in the morning, we have to move out.

So, I called them, everything, they give us a house in Birmingham.

I don't even know Birmingham. I've never been to Birmingham.

Hey! Take it downstairs. Don't drop it.

The rent for Awaz's four bedroom house is about £500 a week,

but that's the total amount of benefits after his cap.

The council believe his only option is moving him

to cheaper accommodation 115 miles away in Birmingham.

They're not happy. They don't want to go.

They're losing the social life, family, friends.

We lose everything to go to Birmingham.

If we lose the school, that's the biggest damage we'll have.

We have to lose our job as well.

I'm leaving all my entire life in London,

but I'm not going to Birmingham, definitely.

100%.

It's Awaz's eviction day

and it's time to hand over the keys to the landlord.

They head back to the council to persuade them

they both have part-time jobs, as a van driver,

and his wife's a beautician,

which they believe should exempt them from the cap

and from being moved.

The cap is when you're not working, but we're working.

How can it affect us? There's evidence.

These are the papers, this is my bill letter,

this is my contract, this is my payslip.

What other evidence can I bring here?

This is more than enough evidence.

As I understand it, we've offered you accommodation in Birmingham,

which you've turned down, and the reasons you've provided us

for turning it down are that you're in employment.

You only, in fact, told us

you're in some form of employment for the first time yesterday.

I have told them before.

I said, "I'm starting work 1st of September."

We have records of phone conversations with your wife.

-I don't know about phone conversations...

-Two conversations.

-I said...

-This was last week, this conversation was had last week.

When I was working, she didn't even know that.

I didn't tell her I was working.

We've seen this time and time again, not just with yourself,

but with a number of applicants, who, in a bid to try

to avoid the caps, come here and present to us

information that is not necessarily true.

You open yourself up for prosecution

if we do find that you've provided false information in an attempt

to secure housing from this local authority.

-We do not accept that your employment's genuine.

-OK. No problem.

I can prove you wrong.

-The situation really is that you've got seven children...

-Yes.

It is not possible for you to afford to live in London. Explain it to me.

How will you pay your rent for a property that is worth £500

and you only get £500 from the Government?

If we go to Birmingham, you have to understand our life will go to zero.

And I really...

Moving from our family, our friends, our school, our jobs.

We have to go to zero.

I empathise with that,

but you've got to realise that we didn't make this law.

What we try to do is help. We did not make you homeless.

-But you were helping us and now you're destroying us.

-No, we're not.

-As I say, you're job is under questioning.

-OK, what about her job?

You're still not exempt from the caps,

so you can't afford to stay.

The council's workload begins to increase

as the news of the cap finally gets around.

So, after I've paid my rent, what does that leave me for water,

electric, gas, food and...?

You just can't live on it, can you?

-If you don't find the work...

-If you don't find the work...

-..it's a problem.

-It is a big problem, I know.

I've been brought up and I've lived in Brent for 30 years.

My mum and dad live here, my friends live here,

my kid's dads live round here.

They're talking about family value, but they're splitting up families.

Maybe I should find a nice lady and make her pregnant,

because that's the only way I'm going to, or she and I are going to

be able to, have a relationship and I'll get a council flat.

Cos that's how it works, isn't it?

17, 18, get knocked up, get a council flat, happy days.

Just take a seat.

Tracy McCarthy is a single mother with three children

who's lost £106 a week due to the cap.

She's also fighting an eviction.

He just wants me out of the property.

The possession order he tried to give it to me by hand,

-but I've refused to open the door.

-Is that cos you're frightened?

Yeah, I won't open the door to him.

-CHILD SHOUTS

-Oi!

It sounds like you're quite familiar with eviction process,

so you've only got to wait for one more eviction notice,

-and don't get worried just yet, OK?

-I know.

These will then be passed over to the temporary accommodation support team.

They will try and secure suitable accommodation

for you and your family.

-OK.

-All right?

-OK.

I don't know where I'm going to be in six month's time,

I don't know if my children are still going to be attending

the schools they are attending,

whether I'm going to be able to go on to attend college...

It's just uncertainty. That's what it is.

Usually, I can get work quite quick in a pub

and I need work quick at the minute.

I've been looking for a job and nothing yet,

so my confidence is just down low at the moment.

Tanya Blake is a single mum of two

who is desperate to find a job and avoid the cap.

Sorry, I won't keep you a moment.

I'm just wondering, have you got any vacancies at the moment?

-You can leave your CV.

-Can I?

Almost 60% of those capped are single parents

and they are the hardest hit.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

Tanya is capped exactly the same as a couple who could both work.

I've been going online, newspapers,

going into places in person just to hand in my CV.

Oh, Marley's got it. Thank you.

Most of my problems would be over

and I can get better sleep at night-time.

That would be excellent.

I don't know if you have any vacancies or not?

Um, at the moment, we don't, but I can take your CV...

That would be lovely.

Over the last few months, Tanya has had only six job interviews.

When I get my job,

I will never be going back on benefits in my life again.

It's too stressful.

I'm a person that's always been to work and they've put me

under that title with all the others, like I live on Benefits Street.

I'm not about that. I don't want to be known as those people like that.

The benefit cap has contributed to a housing crisis in the capital,

with too many people chasing too few affordable homes.

In the past, councils were free to pay

the market rate for rented properties, but in 2011,

the coalition Government cut what it paid private landlords.

They were then far less willing to rent to people claiming welfare,

resulting in increasing numbers of evictions.

It was the job of Brent's Head of Housing Needs, Laurence Coaker,

to deal with the fall out from the landlords.

Some of them were taking a hit of £200-300 a week,

which they couldn't sustain,

so the outcome of that was that they evicted the tenants

and they didn't re-let their property to us.

By putting on a cap which is for the whole country,

it hasn't worked for us, it hasn't worked for London or the Southeast.

What we are having to do is to find accommodation

which the households can afford by claiming the housing benefits,

but that's outside of London, it's outside of Brent,

and the families don't want to go there, understandably,

because they've lived in Brent all their lives.

Many claimants are now stuck,

often in poor housing in expensive areas, waiting to be evicted,

their rents made unaffordable because of the cap.

My toilet keeps seeming to flood up

and it will be like walking in water and it's a sewage works,

so my house stinks like a sewers most of the time.

Tanya, with her two children Rios and Kamali, were moved outside

Brent to Notting Hill three years ago and the council paid her rent.

This is where they have to leave poison for the mice.

It's not good at all.

One time they came and they just put the poison in a dish.

And I found this little boy come and told me, "Mummy, what this?"

Brent thought this was a good place for me.

You know, they enforced this property on me with a £500 a week rent.

You know, I just had a bar job at the time, so I don't know

how they expected me to afford this rent.

I had my work in Wembley, my big boy was in nursery there. No, not good.

Not good.

The cap means Tanya has lost over £200 a week.

"Laugh and giggle, smile and grin."

Her rent eats up what's left, and she's got nothing to live on.

If she doesn't find work, she'll be evicted.

When I was growing up, I never saw my mum and dad out of work.

I don't know how anyone can be rich and proud on benefits. No.

To me, it's very shameful. You know? I hate being in this situation,

I hate having to rely on the government.

I need a job and a cheaper accommodation,

so then I've got more chance of more money to spend on the household

and the boys, because it isn't cheap.

'But how better to design this cap to avoid it

'pushing people into homelessness and ending up costing more...?'

In search of larger, cheaper properties,

many London boroughs re-house families in the West Midlands,

like Handsworth in Birmingham, where houses are plentiful

and rents affordable.

So, the beds arrived.

They're piled up here at the moment because we don't know

until the family arrive which bedrooms

each person will be sleeping in.

Mark is Brent Council's man in Birmingham, and he's preparing

for Awaz and his family's arrival from Brent later that day.

We supply a fridge/freezer to the property and a washing machine.

You know, as well as a cooker, that's what the clients are given.

We always make sure the toilets are clean when people come,

because there's nothing worse

than coming into a house with a dirty toilet.

This property in London might be costing

the taxpayer about £1,500 a month.

Here in Birmingham, the local housing authority rate is 714.

It's quite a substantial saving on what the local authority is

having to pay out in London, really.

But back in Brent, Awaz is still resisting the council's offer.

The question I need an answer to is,

are you accepting the offer in Birmingham or not?

To be honest, I'm really stressed and confused.

I don't know what to choose and what to do, to be honest. That's the truth.

I need to know. The office is shutting down.

I said to you it shuts down in five minutes.

We started our conversation before four o'clock,

it's almost five o'clock now.

I don't know what to say, yes or no.

I need to know, though.

If I don't work next week, I lose the job.

-The question about your employment, that will be investigated.

-I know, I know.

Leave that to us to do...

'Good morning, Brent Council. How can I help?'

Hello, it's mark in Birmingham. You all right?

-'Yeah, I'm fine Mark.'

-Yeah.

Mark's been on stand-by all night waiting for Awaz

and his family to turn up.

I'm just reporting the clients didn't turn up last night.

'Yeah, we've heard nothing this morning.'

We waited until 11:30ish, phoned him this morning, still no answer.

So obviously it's up to you lot at your end, now, with that one.

That's two in a week who haven't turned up.

It's a bit frustrating that I've wasted my time,

but at the same time there will probably be more of these cases.

Some people really, really don't want to be here,

and others are making the best of it.

I don't even know where I'm going, actually.

Tanya's rent is expensive.

As a single mum, she would prefer not to work,

but has no choice as she is desperate to avoid the cap.

Oh, we're down there.

Come on, big boy.

OK, so, we're calculating that you'd have to pay a difference of £219.59p.

-Per week?

-Per week.

No way can I pay 200-and-something pounds a week.

That's almost £800 a month,

and I just don't have that kind of money every week.

After I've paid my rent, I'm going to have to send my children out begging.

Cos I don't have no way to feed them or to pay my other bills at home.

I mean, I'm thinking just to give up my property, give up my house.

And then to move where?

I don't know. I'm going to have to... I don't know.

I don't know.

I don't blame them what they're doing,

to get, like, the lazy people back to work, but, you know, I just had a baby.

I'm not looking to go back to work. When he's six months, or seven, eight months and is walking and

can go in nursery, then yeah, I'll go back to work and stay in work.

But it's hard. It's hard.

It's hard.

RECORDED VOICE: 'Ticket number 29 please go to desk 14.'

As I said, my worst fears were confirmed.

It is going to be an accommodation outside of London, in High Wycombe.

I am a straight man, I do very good for the family.

I am going straight.

You...you...you doing me like an animal.

Let's try to move this thing on.

Listen to me, let's try to move this thing on.

Khalid Kassem and his seven children moved from Palestine to live in Brent 16 years ago.

I'm telling you that nothing can be done. This is all we have. OK?

Why don't you try to stay with someone? Try to stay with someone.

I got a very big family.

Khalid has a part-time grocer's job earning £150 a week.

His benefits are 800 per week.

As he's working, Khalid should never have been affected by the changes,

but he's still being evicted.

The only affordable accommodation

is 30 miles away in High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire.

-I told them, if he hurt himself, you are responsible.

-Sorry, sir?

My oldest child, he told me, "If I leave the school, I'll hurt myself."

-Sir, don't try to emotionally blackmail us.

-OK, OK, OK. I know.

That's called emotional blackmail, OK?

-I need you guys to bring this down a little bit.

-Sorry about that. Sorry about that.

Anything happens to your children, that's your parental obligation to safeguard them, OK?

So do not try to blackmail us.

OK. I can go to that address and everything... But you have to sign a letter

that if my oldest child hurt himself, you are responsible.

Which local government authority officer in their right mind

is going to do something like that? You tell me.

You can't sit here and protest, this is a public building, we have a closing time,

you will eventually be asked to leave this building, do you understand me?

OK, I get the children, you can't do anything against the children. Even touch him. I know the law.

If Khalid wants to keep his job, he's got to travel in

from High Wycombe which will cost over £350 a month.

I told you, I'm confused, she doesn't want to accept it.

I don't know, what can I do?

I want to stay with my friends, and I don't like other place,

I just want to stay in London.

Tomorrow is the day they leave. I don't know. What can I do?

It's very difficult situation.

You are like someone who is in the middle of the fire.

His behaviour at the minute, it's not really going to end nicely, the situation for him.

Eventually, if he chooses not to leave, then the ramifications,

he will be escorted off the premises.

You know, he's here now, and we can only provide him what's affordable, unfortunately.

Given time, it's going to get worse and worse.

Going to see a lot more cases such as this.

He's got seven children, he needs to think very, very carefully about what he's going to do now.

Brent's Lawrence Coker is seeing more cases like Khalid's -

people who have low-paid jobs evicted and having to leave London.

My fear is, where is this going to end?

Where are going to be able house these families who are homeless

because they been evicted from accommodation which they can no longer afford?

Even if you do go out and get a job, you won't necessarily be able to stay because there isn't

the supply of the private sector housing which is affordable and available.

Right, Ravington Street.

I had a trial of a job in a bar, but that didn't go too well.

So that really made me lose a bit of my confidence.

Tanya's getting advice from a housing expert to help her

find a way around her expensive rental problems.

You're in temporary accommodation, OK,

-which means they owe you a full housing duty.

-OK.

So it means they can't get rid of you.

It may be that what they'll do is they'll look to moving you to rent that will be within this £280.

-Yeah.

-And then it doesn't matter if you work or not, because you're

already going to escape the cap just by reducing your rent.

the difficulty is going to be, even that £280 that you would be left with,

you're going to struggle to find private rented accommodation that's cheap enough. Yeah.

-That's what I'm trying to run away from.

-Yeah.

-Because they're not housing you in London any more.

-Yeah.

Whether you work or not. They're housing you out to Birmingham, to Luton,

and if I got out there, I have no support.

Maybe I could contact Brent and ask them to try and find

cheaper temporary accommodation,

and these are the areas that she's willing to look at.

That would be a nice thing for you to do. But it's Brent I don't trust.

Cos they haven't helped me before.

There's a lot of uncertainty.

Yeah. I know it's good of you, but I...

-I mean, it's good of you on your side.

-You all right?

Yeah. I just get upset.

BABY CRIES

Because it's such a big document we really need to be careful about what we put in here.

Back in Brent, housing officer Ali Tahir has got even more bad news for Khalid.

This letter I'm going to issue the applicants with is an enforcement letter,

we can do this lawfully.

We've made a reasonable, adequate offer of accommodation,

and given him one final chance to reconsider his decision.

If he doesn't, then to all intents and purposes, they're on their own.

We're not life managers, we're not life coaches, we are what we are.

We're housing officers. We don't have a choice in it as much as they do.

Shall we go down and give it to him?

Councils like Brent have the power to discharge their duty to rehouse Khalid

if he continues to refuse offers of alternative accommodation.

He's not going to be happy. Rest assured, he's not going to be happy.

You had an offer of reasonable, adequate accommodation in High Wycombe. I urge you to accept this.

You've got the right to review within 21 days of receiving this decision letter.

If you choose not to, then obviously there's nothing else we can do.

Think about your children, they're all under nine, there's seven of them.

Think about having a roof over your head.

It may be in another part of the country, it's not too far.

It's very, very late in the day.

-Yes, but the children...

-No. No, no. I'm not...

Are you going to take this or not?

Yeah, yeah. I take the home. That's because...

After my children to school.

Morning. Any problem, my son, your, the office problem.

-OK.

-OK.

-So, you're going to take it?

Khalid and his wife Faiza still don't want to accept the offer.

BOY CRIES

Are you going to take property or not?

Over here, over here. Friend, over here.

As men, sometimes you have to go do stuff you might not want to do.

That's your responsibility.

Take what they've given you, so they don't have to sit here tonight.

-OK.

-So, take the property, at least the family have somewhere to stay for tonight,

and then you can ask for a review, yeah?

OK, so, would you like to come upstairs, please? Just you. Don't...

Everybody else stay here.

After arguing for over six hours,

Khalid finally returns to their accommodation.

They will be evicted the next day.

OK, I'm calling from the council about your benefits being cut.

Have you received a letter from us recently

telling you about the changes to your benefits?

As the changes begin to bite, the Brent welfare reform team are still

trying to reach as many potentially affected claimants as they can.

To £95.33 per week.

You are going to lose £68.13 per week.

For some it's really scary cos the shortfall is very...

For a lot of people, some shortfalls are £20, £10. Some shortfalls are £100, £300.

But you do understand the reason you are being capped is because you are not working, yeah?

You're saying that he's too sick to go and work, but what about you, then?

They react in different ways, some people do want to get into employment, them we can work with,

some people want to move, we can work with them, as well.

Some people don't have an option because they can't move cos of children,

and they can't go into employment for whatever reason.

One of the ways that the council softens the blow is

drawing on a temporary government fund that helps vulnerable families cope with the cap,

called discretionary housing payment, DHP.

We'll be able to pay Discretionary Housing Payment for you

until the end of the financial year, which will be the 31st of March 2013.

We're not going to throw money at people

if they're going to sit there and just do nothing.

It's not to delay the process, it's to support, erm,

a solution to the process.

Yeah, but your husband can look after the kids, can't he,

while you work? Is that not possible?

Tanya's back at Brent.

She's convinced her benefits were being cut,

and believes she has to find a job.

But there's been some confusion.

We are paying out at the moment 500, your rent is fully covered.

So, I came here last week, yeah?

So can you tell me why nobody stated this to me last week

and why I've got all these figures from last week?

And I've been getting myself into a right tough and tumble,

cos now you're telling me this it's kind of pissing me off now.

As her son Kamali is under one, she was getting her top-up all along.

But she had no idea.

I haven't bought myself any gas,

so my house is like a freezer at the minute.

Me and my kids are having to stay in the one room.

I've not been eating so my kids can eat, d'you know what I mean?

I'm still breastfeeding this little boy. Well, trying to.

My breasts are dried up now.

I went to my doctor's and he said it's cos I'm not eating properly,

and cos I've had to start taking my sleeping tablets cos

I couldn't sleep at night.

Did I need to do all that? No.

No. I'm sorry, I'm just so annoyed and angry right now.

I could pick up that computer and dash it down there.

I'm all right on the money situation now cos I don't have to contribute.

These guys will pay till March.

But in the meantime I will still look for a job so when it comes to

March I don't have to come in this building and deal with these people.

Cos they'll just put me in a mad home,

send me to a mad home with all this stress.

BABY GURGLES

Yes, Mali.

Tanya's temporary benefit top-up will eventually run out.

Her rent is so high the council might still be forced

to move her out of London.

No, it was from, erm, from my work, my voluntary work.

Single mother Tracy McCarthy has also found she's being capped.

That is £317.80, yeah?

Like Tanya, she's getting a temporary top-up

because she's studying, but it's also about to run out.

-OK, so how much is the shortfall?

-It is £106.26.

-That's what your shortfall is.

-A week?

-Per week, yeah.

It's not really affordable, is it, really, to pay the rent?

More worrying for Tracy is her pending eviction.

If you do get evicted because of the shortfall,

we have to look at what have you done to avoid that eviction,

have you done anything to get into employment?

Have you done anything to move? Then we'll look at it again in November,

review it on a regular basis to see how far you've got.

Would you be willing to get a part-time job

if that meant that you could stay where you are?

It'll depend whether I benefit out of it financially.

So you would want to do a better off cap

with the Jobcentre Plus to see what happens.

In High Wycombe, Khalid's getting his first taste of his new home.

They will fall down and one of them could die here on these stairs.

This house costs £375 a week.

An equivalent house in Brent could cost over £500 per week.

There is no space for these things. There's no space.

I will bring them here and see what they said.

Healthy and good for the size of your family. Where is it, can you see it?

You can't see it, isn't it?

If you don't work 16 hours per week,

we will actually be looking at moving you outside of London.

One of those areas will be Birmingham.

How do you feel about that?

After all the council's efforts to warn capped claimants

of the consequences of the benefits changes,

the message is finally hitting home.

16 years ago we come as a refugee in London, and now we are going

second time refugee from London to Birmingham or somewhere else.

That, I think, is not good.

However, they sent me a letter and said, "You have to move."

It's very difficult to go outside London because it is multicultural.

We need multicultural. We don't want a problem. We need peace and love.

I didn't ask to be moved to Manchester.

This was thrust upon me because of the benefit cap.

You lot found me a property

in a place that I said I did not want to go to.

I am not putting my family in danger for the sake of Brent Council!

Donna Roswell has been capped and her benefits almost halved.

She's a single mother who, despite being moved to cheaper housing,

still needs to find a job.

As you know, we have been engaging with you for some time, OK?

Unfortunately, you haven't been successful.

And I have previously discussed being an Avon rep.

Got a lot of friends, you've got relatives...

Five children, I'm sorry,

five children Avon ain't going to feed, yeah?

Plain and straight, Avon, I've done Avon when I had three children.

So please don't be talking that rubbish to me.

It'll give you that flexibility that you need...

Would you do it? That's you.

Would you do it sitting down raising five children? Really?

-Don't belittle me with Avon, what's that?

-I'm not belittling you,

I'm just saying it'll give you that flexibility.

It doesn't give me no flexibility. Really, really, really.

You can't just uproot families and take them out,

you can't just make them... Tell them what they can live off

and what they can't because you're not living with their expenses.

Everybody's family is individually uniquely different.

We can't help it.

We did try to assist her.

We referred her to Jobcentre Plus to try and find employment.

There wasn't any jobs of her choice.

For now she needs to be a bit more open minded on what kind of jobs

she wants to get into. I think that will help her.

Is she willing to do that? I don't think so.

SIRENS WAIL

I'm a little bit scared.

Cos it's too far away.

She is sick. Who is caring about the children?

Nobody. And they told me, OK, here now there is a community.

I can't trust anybody here, isn't it?

She can't see any future in this area, and when I look to her,

I think like something is burning inside her heart.

BABIES CRY

Are you going to sing it?

# Good night, Lola

# Good night, Lola... #

Tracy is still fighting her landlord's attempt to evict her.

On the 4th of November, that's when he wants me

out of this property but I don't intend to go.

It just keeps me awake at night wondering what's going to happen,

whether I'm going to be shoved in a hotel and forgot about.

They're threatening to put me down Luton, I'm not happy about that.

I want to stay in the Brent area.

To uproot a family and put them outside of London,

it's not really practical because, like, my family network's

in London and my friends are in London, it's where I want to stay.

Tracy's bringing up three children alone,

and is unsure whether she's better off on benefits or working.

Tracy volunteers part-time and studies three days a week at college.

People have that attitude that single parents are single because

they want to be and they get more money if they're a single parent.

It's not the case. Basically, I'm in a full-time job as it is.

I don't sit at home watching Jeremy Kyle.

I want to go out and work, I want to go out and be busy

and keep myself busy.

But to go out and work cleaning toilets all day long

and things like that, for minimum wage,

what are you setting your children when they're older?

I don't know if I'm going to get the court letter through the door

saying, "You're being evicted on such-and-such date." You know,

I could do without the stress.

Khalid has returned to Brent

to complain about his house in High Wycombe.

The stairs are a problem?

Yes, they're very dangerous for the children.

It's a very long stair to the second floor.

We found this one. Look, in the mattress, what we found.

The children woke up at night, they said, "What's that?" Like this.

It's not healthy for children.

On the train, if I travel from Wycombe to my job,

it would cost me around £400 a month.

-Yeah.

-I can't afford it to be honest.

He's brought in photos of what looks like an infestation of...

Could be woodlice or... I'm not sure, some kind of beetle.

The fact that you've got open stairs there,

I don't know if the landlord...

But this is his responsibility, isn't it? It's highly unlikely

-that these sorts of issues are going to make it unsuitable.

-Yeah.

What I need him to be leaving today with is the fact that this is

the area that he's going to be living in

in at least the foreseeable future,

so what's he doing about the children's schooling for instance?

-He said he's been working since 2006 in Harrow Road.

-Yeah.

Seems pretty harsh to have to say to people,

"You might have to give up your job."

Why's he got to give up his job?

Because it's in Harrow Road and he's saying it costs him

£300 or £400 a month commuting from High Wycombe.

But where's he going to live?

Well, exactly. I'm going to have to say, "It's your house or your job."

Yeah, well, or say to him, "Find your own accommodation.

-"We can help you with deposits, et cetera."

-I've said that as well.

If he can find a property that is affordable in Brent...we can't.

'..on benefits earn more than you would

'if you actually went out and worked.

'This is not going to be some sort of

'punitive programme of mass homelessness -

'that is not going to happen.

'Of course we won't allow that to happen, but we are saying...'

Since the reforms began,

homelessness in London caused by landlords ending tenancies

has increased by over 300%.

Evicted families are regarded by Brent as technically homeless,

and many end up in temporary hostels waiting for their turn to be moved out of the borough.

OK, this is our second room.

This is where we put usually our food

and our plates and cutlery and all that.

Cos we can't leave it in the kitchen otherwise people take it or use it.

Mumino Kulmiye is a British citizen who came from Ethiopia 12 years ago.

She's a single mother and for the last three months,

together with her two daughters, has been living in an emergency hostel.

We use for everything this room. Our food, our, you know, our clothes.

Bedclothes. Everything is inside this room.

£616 for two rooms per week.

It's not worth the money they're saying cos that room is really small.

It shouldn't be that much money.

Hafsa's family were evicted because of rent arrears.

Due to the cap, the council can't find any affordable housing

in Brent, so they're moving them to Luton.

I've lived in Brent for nearly all my life - like, 12, 11 years -

and I like it here. And I have a lot of family here so I can't just move.

And in Luton I have nobody. I don't know anyone there.

I've never been there in my life.

And plus I'm doing my GCSEs soon so I can't move to another school,

so they're ruining it for me.

So...I'm refusing to go.

Yeah, they have to drag me out.

-Hello.

-D'you want to come through?

-Yeah.

Tracy's back at the council, still trying to find ways to make

her finances add up and avoid being moved out of Brent.

So if you've still got your work you would have to pay about

£4 towards your rent.

-The cap only applies if you don't work.

-OK.

If she was working 16 hours on minimum wage,

Tracy's total weekly income would be £811.

And if her rent stayed the same, she would have more money to live on.

-So you'd have £328.37 left roughly.

-Per week?

-For your living expenses, yeah.

-I don't believe that figure.

-I think that's wrong.

-It would be...

Well, that's the figure the system's giving.

They're going to pay that figure if I go out to work

but yet they can't pay my rent now?

Obviously you've got a cap at the moment on benefits, haven't you?

Yeah, but then I'm still going to have the cap, aren't I?

No, if you start work the cap doesn't apply to you -

you can get more than £500 a week.

Most of the time you are better off in work.

Only if you work full-time maybe then sometimes it will be

hard to work out.

But 16 hours, if you do the minimum for working tax credit,

you are definitely better off.

-Use the lift to get down, yeah?

-Yeah.

-Thank you.

-That's fine, thank you.

I'm staying at college. It means I'm going to struggle but,

well, I'm hoping that cos I'm in studies,

they'll continue to pay my rent.

But we'll see.

You know, older one, really, she says, "I'm not going.

"Definitely I'm not going with you. If you want it, go.

"I'm staying in street." Really. She was angry. She was very angry.

-She's 14, isn't it?

-Yeah.

Mumino's elder daughter Hafsa is still insisting on staying in Brent.

-You need a house, isn't it?

-Yeah, need the house.

-Exactly.

So it's for you to talk to your children, tell them.

You are the mother. You can't just leave her there.

You are supposed to be telling her what to do.

Can't I have a right to say...?

No, this house. Really.

-I'm not happy, definitely, if you...

-I know, I know, I know.

But if you refuse, we'll stop working with you. You can't come to us for help.

And the B&B where you are,

we're going to cancel it within seven days.

Mumino will have to find her own cheaper property or get a job.

She hasn't worked for 12 years and the council's deadline looms.

I don't think she'll be able to make it on her own.

She can't find the deposit cos most of the estate agents

will ask for one month rent, one month deposit, which is ready hard.

Even me, I'm working, I can't afford to do that.

'They think we are being hard'

and they don't think it's happening, actually.

They think it's just you making a decision on their behalf.

# If you're happy and you know it nod your head... #

'I like coming here, I like volunteering,'

I like coming to the centre. It's something that I enjoy.

Helping out in a children's nursery may help with Tracy's career plans

but it won't stop her being capped and moved out of Brent.

Ramona, look, magic!

'When I mentioned to them that I'm doing voluntary work,'

it's not recognised by the council, it's not recognised by the homeless unit.

'They said it's irrelevant for my moving process,'

so they're happy for me to be homeless on the day that my eviction comes

and they're happy to put me in a different area,

so all this will completely be gone.

CHILDREN CHEER

'I would be happy to get a paid job but it's just uncertainty really.

'I don't know where I'm going to be, what's going to happen.'

It's going to affect everything.

Tracy's decision not to work is a gamble.

The council might continue to financially help out

but if she's evicted, she could end up like Mumino,

living in one of Brent's B&B hostels.

We don't have the time!

Mumino's moving today with her youngest daughter, Hannon,

but needs to pick up her belongings stored with family and friends.

This is the hardest thing I ever see in my entire life, really.

Even...

Her elder daughter, Hafsa, hasn't turned up.

She says, "I'm not going, I'm not going. Luton is not my area. I don't want to go," so...

We'll meet again.

I'm feeling a little bit sad because usually we visit each other.

We can't if I move there. Because it's a little bit far.

I need money, a lot of money, to travel here, so...

SHE SIGHS

Oh, no.

Mumino's arrived at her new house in Luton with Hannon,

her younger daughter.

-Do you like it?

-I'm not sure.

Hello, I'm Donna from TL Properties.

Mumino's weekly hostel bill in Brent was over £600

but in Luton this three-bedroom terraced house costs less than £170 a week.

This is the living room-cum-dining room. Through here's your kitchen.

Here's your bathroom.

It can't be fine, the kitchen and, you know, toilet.

It is legal.

-Oh, no!

-And then upstairs, we have three bedrooms upstairs.

We've got a big Arndale Centre just five minutes away.

You've got a little shop down the road on the corner.

Oh. This is not a sitting room. Why did they say sitting room?

Open-plan lounge-diner. That's what most of the houses look like now.

-Do you think that this looks like a sitting room?

-Yeah.

-Be honest.

It is not really. It is not.

Luton, and, again, bad house.

This area is crap, really. It's crap. For me.

If this one is in London, I should say, "Oh, at least I have a house

"in London and my children in school, same school," but now I don't have a good house!

And also I'm changing everything, you know.

I think it's best to make a phone call to them

see what they say, sort it out, through them.

Mumino makes one final plea to her Brent housing adviser.

Do you think it's possible to come back in London? Yeah?

I can't carry on this hard life, really!

Because you're pushing me something and I don't want it, really!

I'm not in stress! I must be stressed, really!

Why are you closing?

What's happening? Are you going to take the property or are you deciding not to?

-Yes, I do. I don't have a choice.

-You've got to take it. Right, OK.

Yeah, I don't have a choice. I have to.

What are you doing?!

After over two years in her rented house, Tracy is finally being evicted.

The landlord's here.

Grab the baby, grab the baby!

Mum, Mum, Mum!

The landlord tried to illegally evict me.

One day when I was out he come round, bolted up the door

so that I couldn't get in again

and, erm, I ended up having to climb through a bathroom window heavily pregnant.

I'm not really bothered about the landlord.

I'm just more worried about where I'm going to be tonight.

Wherever I'm going to be, it's going to be upsetting for the kids.

If I'm put in a bed and breakfast, I'm not going to be able to keep these in their bedtime routine.

It's just going to be a nightmare.

Here! I'm leaving here today!

-Being evicted.

-I can't believe that.

Give me your number.

Where's my phone?

I'll ring you. Bye, Buster, bye, Lola. See you later.

-I'll ring you.

-Definitely.

There's people on benefits, they're grand people.

It's not their fault that their benefits have been cut down.

There's the very best of people that gets benefits, like.

I own a few properties and I wouldn't let a thing to the council now.

Last resort.

I'm not giving him his case. Why should I?

He's chucking me out of the property, so...

Come on, Buster.

Good morning!

Tracy now has to return to the council and declare herself

and her family homeless.

# ..Twinkle, little star

# How I wonder what you are. #

-Hi, Tracy.

-Hiya.

You got to be near Wembley, don't you? OK, let me hold onto this.

At the council, Tracy's worst fears are confirmed.

There's not a house available. Just a hostel.

The main thing, Tracy, is that you're not on the road.

You and your children will have a roof over their head and we've taken that into consideration.

I could be there for over a year.

No, you don't have to be there for over a year. Why would you say that?

Because I've known people with this exp...

But it's-it's not people's case, it's your case. And I always...

My kids are going to be uprooted and everything, and we're going to just be stuck in a room.

Hopefully, it won't be for very long.

But just remember, at least you've got somewhere to go

so you and your children won't be homeless, yeah?

-Yeah.

-All right? OK.

I knew it, my postcode. Oh, God.

It's just going to be a nightmare, I know it is.

In the last year, due to the Government's welfare reforms,

276 households have been moved to accommodation outside of Brent.

Across the UK, even though councils have tried to help claimants avoid the cap

over 38,000 families were still affected.

What's difficult to predict are the long-term consequences

of the Government's new reforms on the lives of those forced

to leave their homes.

After seven months, the experiences of the Brent families we've followed have been very different.

I am stressed! You doing me like an animal.

Khalid drove 30 miles each day to take his children to school

and to keep his Brent job.

Following a council review of his case,

they moved him and his family back to London.

Seven children, they will be without a school. We will be jobless.

A council investigation proved that Awaz and his wife were legitimately working.

They moved to Birmingham but rarely live there,

preferring to stay with family in Brent.

Donna's never actually moved to Manchester.

And after 15 years on the housing waiting list,

she got a cheaper council house in Brent.

I never thought the day would come when I'd actually have...

my own property.

To know that I'm still local, the entire family's over the moon.

She's now got a full-time job in a children's nursery.

The Government's intention is to encourage people back into work.

But so far, only around one in ten of those capped has a job.

For Tanya, the council managed to find a cheaper private rented property back in Brent.

I'm just a lot more at ease now and a lot more relaxed now.

Cos I can feel like I have a future now, I can afford to get on with my life now.

But she is still unemployed.

Mumino found a part-time job but is still capped.

Hafsa never did join her in Luton and stays with family in Brent.

They rarely see each other.

I'm feeling what all mum feel.

Not feeling well when my daughter is other places.

It's hard, it's very hard.

It's not good, really, what they're doing, cos...they're just splitting up all the families.

We see each other, like, once every two weeks or sometimes once every week.

And the longest I haven't seen her was, like, probably three weeks.

I just want us to all be together.

No fridge locks...

Tracy and her family of three are currently living

in a one-room hostel in Brent, waiting for a new home. Somewhere.

'If I'm here in September, I doubt it whether I'll be able to go to college.'

There's a lot of people praying for me, I'm praying for myself and for my children.

And I'm just hoping that I will be able to get out of here

as quick as possible, basically, and then get into some kind of temporary

flat or something, to enable me to have a steady life with my children.

Don't jump on that bed.

-IAIN DUNCAN SMITH:

-'Nobody on benefits, people who are not working,

'should be earning more than the average earnings for the rest of Britain.'

Fine, so you're getting £255.07 too much, according to the cap.

The benefit cap, it's affected your household,

which means that your current accommodation is not affordable.

-NICK CLEGG:

-'The Government is announcing the most radical overhaul

'of our welfare system since its inception,

'driven by a simple overriding principle.

'The purpose of welfare is to help people INTO work.'