Wealthy tenants face crackdown

Ministers are looking to clamp down on wealthy families who benefit from tens of millions of pounds of subsidies for social housing.

The Government is to launch a consultation on enabling social landlords in England to charge higher rents to the wealthiest tenants.

According to No 10 sources, official research has found 34,000 social rented homes have tenants with a combined annual income of £60,000, while in some 6,000 homes the combined income exceeds £100,000.

The annual subsidy is calculated at £122.4 million for those on incomes over £60,000, with those on more than £100,000 benefiting to the tune of £21.6 million.

Aides travelling with Prime Minister David Cameron at the G8 and Nato summits in the United States said ministers were determined to ensure social housing should prioritise those most in need and was not a cheap option for the better off.

A No 10 source said: "It's not right that high earners benefit from taxpayer funded housing subsidy. Just as we have introduced a cap on housing benefit and welfare payments to make the system fairer, now we're acting on social housing too."