Response by Shelter to George Osborne's housing benefit plans.

The homeless charity Shelter today released a report showing possible consequences of the proposed changes in housing benefit. The report shows projected increases in repossession 'hotspots' from around the UK.

Although this type of forecasting is always going to be tricky (lots of variables and the economy less than predictable) it is an interesting piece of work and should be read. The reliability of the statistics, (always look at the statistics!) commissioned by the Ministry of Justice, isn't the issue. Predicting future outcomes when factoring unemployment and mortgage rates into the mix is the hard part. That said, Shelter are one of those organisations who make me feel grateful for what I've got and willing to give a little bit of it away.

There have also been details on the BBC claiming  the majority of coalition councillors aren't happy at the proposed changes (the figures suggest about two thirds are against it), which is also fuelling calls for a U-turn.