| Devon and Cornwall are the most expensive places to live if you are on income support, according to new research published by the Policy Studies Institute. Water, electricity and meals- on-wheels alone cost £9.35 more each week in Cornwall than they do in the West of Scotland, swallowing up an extra fifth of a single person's benefit. |
| People with identical circumstances are paying different prices for basic items like rent, council tax, utilities and domiciliary care, depending on whereabouts in the country they live. The research, which was funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, found variations in the cost of such services from as little as 95 pence to as much as £115 a week. |
| Local Living Costs, by Elaine Kempson and Fran Bennett, shows that a Cornish pensioner who receives housing and council tax benefit but pays for water, electricity and meals- on-wheels has to pay £9.35 a week more than a similar pensioner living in Angus, Scotland. A single Cornish tenant who doesn't pay rent or council tax and doesn't need care services still has to pay £4.60 a week more on electricity and water than a similar person living in the West of Scotland. |
| The situation is even worse for the low paid. Avon, Dorset and South Glamorgan were the most expensive places for people whose incomes took them above the threshold for help with rent and council tax. A private tenant living in Surrey, for example, has to pay £116 more each week on housing, council tax and utilities than another living in the Scottish Borders. Leeds, Bradford, Derbyshire and Falkirk, by contrast, were generally cheapest for these basic items. |
| Variations in costs could be even bigger within regions than between regions. Some price differentials have been deliberately allowed to develop since the privatisation of the utilities and the authors argue for steps to be taken to restrain prices as well as a limited extension of means-tested benefits to cover mortgage interest payments for the low paid. |
| No single area can be identified as the most expensive part of the UK for the basic living costs examined in the report. However three areas, Avon, Dorset and South Glamorgan, have consistently high charges across the board. Those with charges consistently towards the bottom of the range include Doncaster, Leeds, Bradford, Hull, North Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Scottish Borders, Falkirk, Dumfries and Galloway and Orkney and Shetland. |
| 'It is a lottery how far your pound will stretch if you are living on a low income' said Elaine Kempson. 'Ordinary bills swallow a much greater proportion of the weekly budget for low- income households and even small variations in living costs can make a tremendous difference in quality of life. Social security benefits provide some protection but it is limited and inadequate.' |
ENDS
| Contact: | Neil Churchill on | 0171 468 2236 (office) |
| 0374 756 920 (outside office hours) |
| Local variations in average weekly charges | |||
| . | Highest | Lowest | Difference |
|
Council rents Private rents Mortgage repayments - first-time buyers - remortgagor Council Tax - band D - band A Water Electricity Meals-on-wheels School meals |
£82.84 £175.00 £93.00 £67.19 £19.35 £12.90 £6.33 £5.99 £10.50 £6.25 |
£19.46 £60.00 £40.74 £29.44 £5.67 £3.80 £2.06 £5.04 £3.10 £3.85 |
£63.38 £115.00 £52.26 £37.75 £13.68 £9.10 £4.27 £0.95 £7.40 £2.40 |
| Press Release Index | Research Index | Publications | Home Page |