Raphael Edwards, a social housing tenant in Clerkenwell of over 40 years

A CLERKENWELL man has told how he feared homelessness, after an “administrative error” by Islington Council prevented him receiving his housing benefit.

Raphael Edwards, a social housing tenant in Clerkenwell of over 40 years, applied for housing benefit from the council last June, when he started receiving a state pension.

Prior to this, he had been claiming universal credit from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to pay rent to his landlord, housing association Clarion. After reaching state pension age, claimants can no longer receive universal credit and must apply direct to their council for housing benefit.

He said he received “hardly any” correspondence after making his application last year, and had phone calls and emails ignored, as his fears of eviction mounted.

He has racked up six months of rent arrears with Clarion, who he said had been “understanding and helpful”, despite his situation.

He said: “It’s been very distressing, these last six months. I was really concerned and very frightened that I was going to be made homeless.

“I haven’t been able to sleep basically every night. It’s a feeling that I can’t really put into words – you are just constantly dreading that somebody is going to come and knock on your door and repossess your flat.

“I’ve got nowhere else to go, I’ve lived here for 40 years, this is my home.”

Mr Edwards finally received an admission of an error and an apology from the Town Hall this week, who agreed to pay his rent moving forward as well and back-dating the overdue payments.

He added that he felt his case was only sorted out by the council after he spoke with the press about it.

He said he wanted to expose their “incompetence” and highlight an issue that may be affecting other people.

“The council phoned me this week and told me that they would make the payments and sort things out. I don’t believe they’ve done this because they care about people in my situation, they just don’t want the bad press,” he said.

“Local governments everywhere have had their resources cut, and what that means is that more and more people are falling through the cracks, and the cracks are getting bigger. They’re given less money and resources to help people, and then those people fall through and become forgotten about.”

Mr Edwards, who has lived in Islington his whole life, used to work for a housing association in south London and said that “things have got much worse” for people claiming benefits and living in social housing over the past 10 years.

He said: “It’s got 10 times harder over recent years, and I think a big part of that is to do with the Conservative Party who created a hostile environment for people on benefits, and now the Labour Party in power have been continuing that policy.

“No longer am I surprised to see people desperate in the street, having problems and difficulties. More and more people are being let down by the system – more than we have seen before.”

A spokesperson for Islington Council said: “We have worked with Mr Edwards over a number of months to make him aware of the processes around applying for housing benefit when reaching pension age, and provided additional time for him to submit relevant documents.

“We are sorry that an administrative error which meant that Mr Edwards did not receive the housing benefit payments that he was due. As soon as this was discovered we acted and apologised to Mr Edwards directly. He has received all money due to him, including back pay. The housing benefit and council tax support services process around 275,000 pieces of work each year, support­ing Islington residents who need financial and other assistance.”