There are many ways that homeless individuals are kept trapped in the cycle of poverty. One of those is our benefits system, which can often be counterproductive.

For many homeless individuals one of the vital steps to rebuilding their lives is to get a job. However homeless people living in supported accommodation are prevented from working by the benefits system.

If they do get work, under Universal Credit rules the amount they are expected to contribute towards their housing costs can increase from £20 a week to more than £200 a week. This is simply unaffordable for most on the sort of wages they are able to earn.

Not being able to work and save for a deposit means that homeless people spend more time in supported accommodation than they need to.

This situation puts those affected into an impossible and immensely stressful situation, where they cannot afford to work, and they cannot afford not to either. Often they have other issues to deal with as well, and lack both resources and support networks.

The resettlement grants Church Homeless Charity give to homeless individuals can enable people – who otherwise may be stuck indefinitely in the cycle of poverty – to finally move into a home of their own, by shouldering the burden of that advance rent payment.

This intervention can and has helped to rebuild lives, and it is thanks to the generosity of our donors that hundreds of people across England are now in homes of their own.

It is important however that the benefits system is reformed, so that this trap does not continue to leave countless people in poverty for years to come. These systems should exist to lift people out of poverty, not hold them down. Our hope is that no one be left in this terrible position again. For now, we will keep supporting them.

Sometimes, the local Job Centre will insist that an individual takes a job regardless of the cost, and they quickly get into rent arrears. These rent arrears will be impossible to pay off on a low wage; which will often prevent them from accessing social housing, and which may even lead to them becoming homeless again.

Moving into a home is always costly. Almost all landlords require rent payments in advance, and private landlords will also require a deposit.