A single mother of four who was was forced into homelessness due to a shortfall in housing benefit is to challenge the government in Britain's highest court.

The woman, known only as Ms Samuels, was treated as intentionally homeless because she refused to use her non-housing benefits, intended to cover other living costs, to cover the £35 weekly gap between her housing benefit and her rent.

When she subsequently fell into rent arrears and was evicted, Birmingham City Council refused to treat her and her children as unintentionally homeless on the basis that she could, in theory, have used some of her non-housing benefits to plug the shortfall.

Charities Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG) and Shelter are intervening in the case. They argue that it is unlawful to force tenants to spend money intended for basic daily living needs on their rent because housing benefit has been reduced.

Around 1.6 million adults rely on housing benefit to help with private rents, most of whom are women. But the benefit covers only a portion of private sector rent in 95 per cent of England’s broad rental areas.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates, which are used to determine housing benefit entitlement for tenants renting in the private sector, have been frozen since April 2016, although private rents have risen by 22 per cent since 2010. So inflation means the freeze is a cut in real terms.

CPAG’s head of strategic litigation, Carla Clarke, said the case was important in a climate in which housing benefit has been “eviscerated” while rents continued to rise.

“No mother should have to see her children go short of essentials in order to pay the rent. No one should be required to live below the income that Parliament has decided they should have for the basic essentials to keep a roof over their head,” she said.

Amber Rudd announces Universal Credit to be paid to women who are main carers

Greg Beales, campaign director at Shelter, said the charity was intervening because it was “not lawful or right to expect families to scramble to find money from their day to day expenses to pay the sky high rents that housing benefit can’t cover”.

He added: “When someone is forced to choose between rent and keeping their children fed, they cannot be viewed as ‘intentionally’ homeless when they choose the latter. This situation is a damning indictment of our housing and benefits system, and how it too often works against the very people it is supposed to support.

Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Show all 8 1 /8 Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Homeless this Christmas Janela, 27, is 27 weeks pregnant and lives in temporary accommodation with her six year old son. She works 12-hour night shifts in a packing warehouse in Birmingham. Shelter Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Homeless this Christmas Suleman works in IT and has been living in emergency accommodation since June 2014 with his wife and two children. His youngest, only 2, was born while they were living in the hotel. Shelter Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Homeless this Christmas Sarah*, 40, was living in one room in a B&B with her husband and children, including her three-month old baby: “We sleep on the bed, they play on the bed, we eat on the bed. There’s just no place for anything.” For her daughter Shauna*, 13, the shame she felt at being homeless impacted on her friendships at school: “I don’t tell them because in the end you can’t trust a friend…they could spread rumours about you. I can’t explain anything to anyone. I go to school with a smile on my face.” * Names have been changed to protect the individual’s identity Shelter Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Homeless this Christmas Maria* and her two daughters (15 and 5) lived in a B&B for more than 9 months, before being moved out of area in October. Her oldest daughter is a wheelchair user and had no access to a bath as the bathroom was on a different floor. Maria had to bathe her in a tub in the bedroom. * Names have been changed to protect the individual’s identity Shelter Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Homeless this Christmas Nicola and her three children have spent the last 9 months in temporary accommodation. She said: “We're so squashed in this cold, damp place. I say place because neither myself nor the children call this 'home'. It's full of mould and the kids are constantly ill from the damp. I'm trying to do the best that I can with what I have. I'm training to be a teacher, attending counselling sessions and trying to be the best mum I can to my babies but living like this is getting too much.” Shelter Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Homeless this Christmas Nathan, 28, has been homeless for three months, and until recently was living in a Travelodge on the side of a motorway with his 16-month old son, where he only had access to a kettle: “There’s milk and stuff, but there’s no microwave. It’s pretty hard to make food. I’ve got to get the jars and stick it in the kettle, and then put the kettle on to warm it up, so that’s the best way to feed him.” Shelter Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Homeless this Christmas For Geraldine, 45, and her 13-year-old daughter Hannah*, living in an emergency B&B has taken a huge toll on their mental and emotional wellbeing: “My daughter has felt very suicidal. I took her to the GP. They’ve referred her to the psychologist. She’s constantly breaking down crying. I had to take her to A&E on two occasions because she’s having problems, she keeps getting palpitations. She shakes.” * Names have been changed to protect the individual’s identity Shelter Shelter - Homeless this Christmas Homeless this Christmas Mariam, her two teenage sons and 4 year old daughter Zara were living in a B&B for nearly three months, before being moved to temporary accommodation in November. Both places have been extremely cold and Mariam is concerned for Zara’s health, as she suffers from asthma and anaemia. Shelter

“Housing benefit has not kept pace with rising rents for years and cases like this are the result: we are hearing from more and more families who are choosing between rent and meals.”

It comes after child homelessness in England hit a 12-year high, with government figures showing a total of 123,630 minors were housed in temporary accommodation between April and June, marking a rise of nearly a quarter in the past three years.