Working housing benefit claimants soar in West Midlands

The party released figures saying there were thousands more people forced to rely on welfare to cover the cost of their rent, despite having a job.

It comes as the opposition is demanding laws to scrap fees charged by letting agents to tenants, which it says cost some cash-strapped people as much as £500 just to get the keys to the front door.

The party claims there were 4,967 working age people on housing benefit in Sandwell last year, compared with 3,046 in 2010.

In Walsall it was 4,423, compared with 2,634 three years earlier.

Wolverhampton had 4,056 working age housing benefit claimants in 2013, compared with 2,373 in 2010 while in Dudley the number went from 2,574 to 4,202.

Wyre Forest had 1,461 working age claimants last year, a rise on 2010's 994.

In Stafford it was 1,150 while in Cannock Chase it was 1,280 and in Lichfield it was 819 - all higher than three years before.

Nationally more than 400,000 people have gone on to housing benefit since 2010, Labour claims, costing taxpayers an extra £6 billion.

Emma Reynolds, shadow housing minister and MP for Wolverhampton North East, said: "The Government has failed to tackle the real issues behind housing benefit. They are not building enough new homes and that keeps house prices out of reach for many people.

"They cut the affordable homes budget and that has contributed to a higher number of people who cannot afford to pay their rent without help."

Miss Reynolds said she wanted to see letting agents banned from charging fees to tenants.

However, she admitted it may mean higher rents being charged as landlords get charged more by letting agents to cover the cost and recoup it from the tenant.

"This would at least mean the cost is spread rather than a tenant being expected to find hundreds of pounds upfront," she said. The party also wants to set a legal limit on the amounts that rents can be increased.

During exchanges at Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, David Cameron indicated that he would be be prepared to work with Labour on proposals for longer term tenancy agreements.

However, he said: "If the proposal is for rent controls that have been tried all over the world including in Britain and have been shown to fail, I think that is a very bad idea."