The Tory benefit cap could finally be raised after six years as inflation rockets.
George Osborne set the cruel limit on each family’s welfare at £20,000 or £23,000 in London in 2016 - and it has not risen since.
It now hits 120,000 households - two thirds of them single parents - and 35,000 people are expected to fall into it this year.
Tories claimed the policy would push families on benefits into work or a smaller flat.
But critics say it has caused social cleansing of whole areas as rents go up - as people see the same money in their pockets but must pay more to their landlords.
Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey today confirmed the government may review the cap between now and April next year.
She told MPs she wanted to ensure it gave a “real reflection of life” as inflation nudges 10%.
She suggested it was originally meant to be reviewed during each Parliament, a process that was disrupted by the 2017 and 2019 elections. “I’m just getting a bit of advice on that,” she told the Commons Work and Pensions Committee.
The Tory welfare chief was confronted over the decision to freeze local housing allowance - the formula for how much housing benefit people get towards their rent.
Labour MP Neil Coyle accused her of urging people to move to cheaper areas after she said “people’s circumstances are so different around the country on what is possible for them to earn, or their costs”.
Ms Coffey replied to the MP: “That’s not what I said.
“What I said is there have been movements on rents over the last couple of years - some places have gone up, some places have gone down.”
She added: “It’s not my role to advise people where they should live.”
