Over 5,000 Westminster households will be affected by the changes and for the majority their current rents will be unaffordable. There are a significant range of variables around the impact of the changes including uncertainty about the response of the private rental market but it is likely that a sizeable proportion of these households will need to move with many of them leaving Westminster when the caps affect current claimants during 2012. Moving out of the borough is likely to be problematic for families with children at critical schooling points and elderly and disabled individuals.

The warning is from a council report, quoted by the Guardian here. According to the report, 81% of council tax recipients in the borough are receiving more than the proposed housing benefit cap. Are we about to see a huge change in central London's residential social profile?

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