Letter: No help for those in real need

BEING out of work in an area of high male unemployment, I unfortunately have to claim housing benefit. So it was with distaste that I read of the new Green Paper, and what is being proposed ("Field attacks 'culture of dependency'", 22 March).

I see no point in replacing housing benefit with a voucher for accommodation set at a fixed level. Under the existing system there is a limit to what people can claim, depending on the size of the property and who lives there. Being a single person in a flat I have to pay a shortfall out of my own pocket. Apparently the Government wants to encourage the private rented sector, but that certainly won't happen if rent assistance is capped. As for boosting the market through the building of new cheaper homes, I don't think this is of the slightest relevance to those who depend on the state benefit system.

Tim Mickleburgh

Grimsby, Lincolnshire