We Oppose The Bedroom Tax

MAKING US PAY AGAIN FOR THE BANKERS!

The Coalition government’s Welfare Reforms are due this April, having been talked about for a couple of years.  A big part of this reform is reductions inHousing Benefit; what’s being called “The Bedroom Tax”.  The government have decided that everyone with what they describe as one ‘spare’ room will have 14% of their Housing Benefit taken away from them; two or more rooms will mean a cut of 25% of their Housing Benefit.  It affects everyone of working age, whether or not you are registered disabled.  The only exceptions are those over 65.  It doesn’t matter how long you’ve lived in your house, whether or not you consider it ‘home’ or if it’s just a roof over your head, if you’re on Housing Benefit, you need to be thinking about how you’re going to pay. 

This is supposed to be an incentive for people in social housing (what used to be called council houses) to only live in the homes that fit – single people in one-bedroomed houses, families in two or three-bedroomed houses.  It almost seems like a good idea, freeing up houses for the long lists of people waiting.  In reality, this is a nightmare for those in homes that are now deemed to be ‘the wrong size’, with no smaller properties to move to.  One of the biggest problems is that there just aren’t enough one-bedroomed properties in the county for the amount of people needing them.  There is simply nowhere for people who need the smallest houses to go.  People will be stuck in homes that are too big for them, their benefits will be cut and they won’t be able to afford to stay in their homes.  The logical conclusion to this is that more tenants will be evicted due to rent arrears, so will become homeless.  Most rents on three-bedroomed homes at £100+ each week, you would need to find at least £15 a week or £30 if you have two spare rooms.  If you are on a low or no wage, where do you get that from? 

The government has said that tenants can take in one lodger without it affecting their benefit entitlement so the shortfall can be made up that way.  Some tenants are considering that option and tenancy exchanges are becoming more popular, so tenants aren’t joining the housing list but are still able to ‘downsize’.  But many tenants have ended up in houses too big for them because their houses were allocated to them when all the kids lived at home. The kids have left home and the house is now “too big”, according to the Coalition government, so the family home needs another family in it.  It’s too brutal for these families and everyone affected and is a further tax on the less well off in British society.The Coalition government’s Welfare Reforms are due this April, having been talked about for a couple of years.  A big part of this reform is reductions inHousing Benefit; what’s being called “The Bedroom Tax”.  The government have decided that everyone with what they describe as one ‘spare’ room will have 14% of their Housing Benefit taken away from them; two or more rooms will mean a cut of 25% of their Housing Benefit.  It affects everyone of working age, whether or not you are registered disabled.  The only exceptions are those over 65.  It doesn’t matter how long you’ve lived in your house, whether or not you consider it ‘home’ or if it’s just a roof over your head, if you’re on Housing Benefit, you need to be thinking about how you’re going to pay. 

This is supposed to be an incentive for people in social housing (what used to be called council houses) to only live in the homes that fit – single people in one-bedroomed houses, families in two or three-bedroomed houses.  It almost seems like a good idea, freeing up houses for the long lists of people waiting.  In reality, this is a nightmare for those in homes that are now deemed to be ‘the wrong size’, with no smaller properties to move to.  One of the biggest problems is that there just aren’t enough one-bedroomed properties in the county for the amount of people needing them.  There is simply nowhere for people who need the smallest houses to go.  People will be stuck in homes that are too big for them, their benefits will be cut and they won’t be able to afford to stay in their homes.  The logical conclusion to this is that more tenants will be evicted due to rent arrears, so will become homeless.  Most rents on three-bedroomed homes at £100+ each week, you would need to find at least £15 a week or £30 if you have two spare rooms.  If you are on a low or no wage, where do you get that from? 

The government has said that tenants can take in one lodger without it affecting their benefit entitlement so the shortfall can be made up that way.  Some tenants are considering that option and tenancy exchanges are becoming more popular, so tenants aren’t joining the housing list but are still able to ‘downsize’.  But many tenants have ended up in houses too big for them because their houses were allocated to them when all the kids lived at home. The kids have left home and the house is now “too big”, according to the Coalition government, so the family home needs another family in it.  It’s too brutal for these families and everyone affected and is a further tax on the less well off in British society.