existing claimants, their eligible rent will be reduced based on the anniversary date of when they first made their claim for benefit. The government has stated that the purpose of these reductions is to reduce the fiscal deficit and to increase the incentive for people to work. The reduction in benefits will mean that some families will have to leave their existing homes and find cheaper ones. Families of people in work have been unable to pay their rent and have become homeless through the housing benefit freeze. The cost of maintaining these families in bed and breakfast accommodation is far higher than the cost of paying the families a higher rate of housing benefit would be. Roger Harding of Shelter stated, "We have grave concerns that the current freeze on housing benefit is pushing hundreds of thousands of private renters perilously close to breaking point at a time when homelessness is rising. For those hit by the freeze, housing benefit is failing to bridge the widening gap between escalating private rents and incomes that simply can’t keep up. (...) We’re calling on the government to abandon the freeze in the short term or risk making more people homeless. Ultimately, if the government wants to cut the welfare bill in the long term, they should concentrate their efforts on building genuinely affordable homes that low earners can actually afford". Housing benefit has been frozen for four years to 2018 while private sector rents have been rising. This has caused hardship among poorer tenants who do not have enough money to heat their homes, to buy food and also to pay their rent, the Chartered Institute of Housing has found. Terrie Alafat of the CIH said, "Our research makes it clear just how far housing benefit for private renters has failed to keep pace with even the cheapest private rents. We fear this policy is putting thousands of private renters on low incomes at risk of poverty and homelessness". Over 90% of Local Housing Allowance rates throughout the UK now do not cover the cheapest 30% of homes in any area, as they were originally intended to do, the Chartered Institute of Housing research shows. In November 2017 over 30 homeless charities, faith leaders and MPs issued a letter to Chancellor Philip Hammond, urging him to lift housing benefit cap or a million households would face homelessness in the coming two