Government under fire over bedroom tax trap
Ministers in charge of bringing in the controversial “bedroom tax” were today accused of not thinking the plan through, as it emerged two out of three people affected will be unable to move to smaller homes.
Councils and social housing providers do not have enough one and two bedroom flats available to re-house the people who will lose either 14 per cent or 25 per cent of their housing benefit from April 1.
It means many families are caught in a trap, losing out financially even if they are willing to move to a smaller house.
Councillor Roger Lawrence, leader of Wolverhampton City Council, said: “There are all sorts of problems with this.
“If parents have only one child and move house to downsize then that child may have to move schools, which disrupts their education.
“Under-occupancy is an issue that needs to be addressed but it needs to be done properly and to take account of people’s circumstances.This has not been properly thought out.
“Some civil servant in Whitehall has sat down and thought this is a good idea and hasn’t thought about the consequences.”
Prime Minister David Cameron has defended the plan, which he says created a level playing field with the private sector. He said: “All the time Labour was in government, if you were in a private rented sector home and you were in receipt of housing benefit you did not get any benefit for empty rooms. It is only fair we treat people in social housing the same way.”
Wolverhampton Homes, which manages Wolverhampton City Council’s 23,500 council homes, has 3,136 tenants who will end up paying more for their rent from April. But the company has told the Express & Star it has just 12 one-bedroom properties becoming available each week, an average of 624 a year.
The majority of these are general needs flats but a small number are bungalows and flats designated for the elderly meaning working age people affected by the housing benefit cut would not be eligible. Its waiting list for one bedroom homes currently stands at 6,660.
Some 276 Wolverhampton Homes tenants are considering downsizing and of those 177 are under occupying by one bedroom and 99 are under occupying by two bedrooms.
There are 2,887 tenants who will be affected and have said they are not interested in downsizing, so they will need to pay the shortfall in their benefits.
In neighbouring Dudley on average 689 one bedroom homes become vacant each year, along with 707 two-bedroom homes. There are more than 3,400 council tenants who are facing cuts in benefit in the borough.
Cannock Chase Council will have to collect extra rent from 574 tenants from next month to make up for cuts in housing benefit but in an average year just 129 one bedroom homes and 80 two bedroom properties become available.
In Walsall, social housing company Walsall Housing Group said over the past year it had 527 one bedroom homes and 766 two bedroom homes become available. It has 2,709 tenants affected by the changes.The company is building further two bedroom houses and flats and has registered 181 households who looking to downsize.
Sandwell Homes was unable to provide figures on its housing stock.
The National Housing Federation estimates that 20,725 people will lose out in the Black Country, Stafford, Lichfield, Cannock Chase, South Staffordshire and Wyre Forest.
On average it could be anything from about £45 a month to £88 a month but the amounts people will pay depends on their rent and circumstances.
The Government insists that the housing benefit bill needs to be tackled. Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith says the bill has run out of control.
Comments for: "Government under fire over bedroom tax trap"
BOF
The plus point if there is one is that the benefit gets paid to the OCCUPANT NOT THE LANDLORD!
Wolverhampton Homes are going to have problems collecting the money? Are they not
Are they going to chase people through the courts, yet more cost to the council AND YET MORE CUTS
Or - the council tax payers will pay for the non-collection as we do now for non collection of rent.
Politicians, don't you just love them playing games with our money
It gets better by the day and is just a political football.
Maybe the councillors could play for Wolves instead?
UTW.......
tracey billingham
i think it is disgusting. my daughter is a one parent family with two children using all bedrooms in her house but because her daughter is 7 and her son is 18 months she still has to pay for the extra bedroom. £115 a month. , but dudley council wont rehouse her cus no houses and if they did she wud have to move again in 3 years time when her daughter is 10. its madness and very unfair
Sandwell Lad
If you want to tackle the Housing Benefit here is how you do it...
1. If you wnat the older generation to down size, build a nice size bungalow (not flats) in a nice area for them to live in peace
2. Give the houses (that you have taken off the elderly) to working people and families... Not the jobless or shameless
3. STOP giving local council houses to the Foreigners and illegals.
By doing the above you will have sorted out the housing problems and start to bring in full rent rates!! Stop attacking the voters and workers and start on the shameless and jobless lazy people!!!!!
G Fellows
Jobless and shameless? Do people not deserve to live anywhere? What you are saying is shameful on every count and you should not be blogging hatefully. Consider this, unemployment comes to the EMPLOYED through no good fault of their own. YOU could be next on the list, does this mean you should then loose your council home if you are in one? or are you one of the elderly people who people want a bungalow in some leafy green area to live out your natural? Fair comments please your formula for solving the crisis would solve nothing, and would only bring stench to the streets and yet another greater problem.
SLD
Well said Sandwell lad.
lisa bowman
i had the council come to my house last week and they asked me if i wanted to downsize, i said no coz i love my home, and also have spent alot of money here and they said good coz they havnt any 2 bedroom houses to put me in anyway!!!
Keith Brook
I am sick and tired of this government trying to justifie this dreadful imoral TAX when you are awarded a council house or any social housing you are given a secure tenancy where as a private rent you know it might not be permanant this is where it differs people make there council homes there own by spending money over the years on improvments with permission from there councils where as in privates most of the improvements have already been done why let these council tenants make these council propertys liveable and then compare them to privates there is no comparison there are so many negative issues to this imoral TAX i could write all day are we going to let this government get away with this. Keith.
Carter Magna
Cheer up, Banker's bonus season is just around the corner!
Ian Day
Of course they thought it through, they thought it was another great way of robbing the poor so the rich don't have to pay any more
Pam
The coalition government have definitely not thought this through with very little social housing to downsize to! The reduction of the Housing Benefits bill would be reduced by tackling the high rents in the private sector, bringing back a fair rent system would do this! However, many privately rented properties are owned by members of parliament and their cronies so they won't want their income reduced from these properties!
joanne macleod
fortunately all my bedrooms are occupied,the whole sector needs addressing, i am unable to work due to a assault so therefor on income support, my son works so because of this i do not get housing or council tax benefit which i feel is disgusting.But if he did move my younger son would occupy his room leaving a very small box room, where you can just fit a bed into and they want me to pay extra for that, i dont think so !
kathy
the whole thing is a farce and my own H.A have told us its just not do- able, so to cover their rents all
they are interested in doing is helping people to set up a direct debit for rent, and to get into peoples houses and convince them of this they are giving them the incentive of helping them set up dual fuel deals, its so transparent its a joke.
Nigel
So far I have written to Nick Clegg
,Ian Duncan Smith,Ed Milaband. No one so far have replied .If they are going to excempt children with disabilities from the charge that's great. However what about those who need 24 hour help like myself .My wife was very happy working in our local hospital has a auxiliary nurse. Unfortunatly she had to pack it up to care for me 24 hours a day .She now gets £58.50 per week off which then because our money is made up off income support she then losses £26 off that. Here is an idea first all those that are in my position lets get put into hospital or care homes. That will cost the Goverment a lot lot more than they are going to save if we all did this how would the country cope it wouldn't they should think about how much careers save them. Or they could pay careers the minimum wage .That would encourage more people to leave there jobs to look after there own .this would make jobs and unblock beds in hospitals. now I am just a layman and I can see that would make sence. Also I've been told by my local council that I can move to a private one bed bungalow and they will pay more than £124 a month more than they do for my very little 2 bed bungalow which has been adapted for my needs. That's good economics isn't it. Last point all those who are going to be hit should all go to there local council on 1st April actually the 2nd because that's a bank holiday .They should form a queue and demand a smaller property after all the council and Goverment have obviously thought this through and there must be loads available .But we know that's not true so let's line up a mile queue outside each council office and embarrase this awful wicked Goverment.
joanne king
My daughter has allready been told it will affect her , it's pathetic she is allready in a one bedroom flat paying a shortfall of 40 pound a week out of her money she gets 112 a fortnight , she is unfit to work
Cameron will be bringing work houses back soon , surley the public can demand a revote get them out money grabbing scoundrels
tina
and it gets worse when they pay the universal payment ,for one day a month we will feel rich as if we are going to pay our rent ,we will be able to afford a holiday ,more drink ,loads more drugs the stupidity of the hypocrites so 9 out of ten will be facing eviction
Den
So its like payday if you have a job (minus tax, national insurance to support those on benefit) so now "we" can all learn to budget.
rachel evans
it is the same in yorkshire too i moved to a four bedroom house from a 3 bedroom house because it was not big enough that was nearly 2 years ago that house was private rented and where i am now is a chiven house social housing managed by barnsley council we moved because 1 cheaper rent and 2 we were having our 4th child so we needed the extra room the house is a new build so the rooms are not as big as some of the older houses which we did not have a problem with as the house we moved from was wet damp and covered in mould no matter how much i tried to clean and prevent this caused health issues for my family and myself and could have caused the premature labour of our son who sadly passed away when he was 12 days old we informed our landlord loads of time even told them that the roof was leaking and this is what was causing the problems but they said not even though we had been up in loft and could see holes they tried different things rather than replacing the roof and nothing worked it got so bad that i could not keep food in my kitchen units in the end i contacted environmental health who confirmed what we had told our landlords a report was sent to them of what needed to be done they took no action so when i told them i would take further action they gave us notice and made us homeless in the 3 yrs we lived there we paid £500 per month no housing benefit even though my husband is on a low wage it was not untill we were working with the homeless dept at our council did we find out we could have housing benefit so we applied for it and in the end after putting our name down for several houses we were offered this 1 where we live now my husband 4 children all boys and my self my two oldest share a room which is just big enough but they do have to have bunkedbeds otherwise there would be not room to move my other two have a room on their own these rooms are smaller and big enough for 1 person then my husband and i have our room yet according to this government i have a spare room please tell me where just because my children are of the same gender and under 16 you are saying we have i will not be moving i dont see how i can why i should so i will have to pay this tax but am not happy with it i will not disrupt my children again they have suffered enough living in that house and the loss of their brother they now live in a warm damp and mould free house instead of a damp cold wet 1 this government want to be ashamed of its self all they are doing is lining the pockets of rich and us that work hard to make sure we and our children are fed clothes and warm are paying for it disgusting
rachel evans
also they are saying that doing this will free up houses for people that need bigger 1 but do they not know that most of the older houses that are big family home are lived by oaps their children have left home and have 1 or 2 spare rooms but they are excempt from this tax so its not going to work plus even if they wanted to there are no smaller places for them to move too but why should they why should any of us
Barry
I have been housebound for over 20 years now with agoraphobia and have to pay just over £22 per week , I can't move , I am losing sleep over this. I don't know how were going to pay this amount
dee
don`t panic, you`ve mangaged to get by for 20 years, social services will be tripping over each other to help. Its the workers who have to get on with it instead of trawling the internet to find some obscure disorder for not working.
Ashley Stewart
i have a landlord and i pay him £120 a month and the government pays £400 the £120 is killing me to pay and i have a 1 and 2 year old i got told by the housing they will not pay for the room as they can share one room and now i bet they ask for me to pay them for the ''spare'' room and tax if so we will starve and be cold then ill get child care knocking at my door but the government give the euro £36 BILLION a day stop trying to fix there country and they could use that to fix your home land 1st to be fair the government are all thick and born with a sliver spoon in there gobs they dont know what the real world is like!!
Jack
They should just scrap benefits all together. I struggle to make a living and I've never claimed a single benefit, but my neibours, all on benefits have an easy life, get all their mod cons for free.
Stop benefits all together, open soup kitchens up and down the country, they'll soon find jobs then!
Barry
I used to think like you , until I fell ill , I was a fully qualified electrical engineer , but can't work now , the Benefits are only a fraction of what I could earn. Please don't get long term ill Jack
Think First
Jack/jackie
Don't judge everyone on benefits by what you THINK your neighbours are doing/getting. I'm glad to hear you have never had to claim a benefit but if you struggling as hard to make a living as you intimate try looking into it and see if you qualify. Don't be too proud you've obviously paid in so deserve help if you need it. Mind I could understand you not wanting to as you might find people next door to you slaging you off when they don't know the full facts of your life, oh how unfair that may be. Still not as demoralising as having to beg for a meal from a soup kitchen. Next why don't you give us your ideas on what the views from the top of Mt Everest look like. don't let the fact you have never been there either stop you on that subject! Old Native American saying: don't judge a man 'til you've walked a mile in his moccasins
Pete
WELL DONE TO WOLVERHAMPTON,DUDLEY, CANNOCK AND WALSALL COUNCILS FOR AT LEAST PROVIDING THE FIGURES FOR THEIR COUNCIL HOUSES, ERRRR NOT SANDWELL AS USUAL THEY DON'T KNOW I AM SHOCKED! NOT !
chris
if thy want the bedrooms stick people in a 5 star hotel because thy no smaller houses are flats out there to down size into ya twits me and wife made show we did not have no more children 15 years back we did not want to be a big beard-en on the government and the tax payers we stop on 2 children if i known what the government was going to do i would have bred like hell and got my own football team to keep me going till 68 but no i did the right thing are did I:) i also did it because thy was not many jobs are houses 4 them to survive in i think its up to you how many children you have but do not take it out of the poor sorry about the spelling mistakes
Bob Carlson
Why is your government in the housing business anyway? Is it the shortage of land?
bobbysox
i,m afraid we,ll just have to put up with it, as you know there are half a million romanians waiting patientley in europe for their invasion day [ january 1st next year]and they will arrive with their legal teams demanding their rights and that includes homes,that is why the tories want you out of your larger houses ,they will need them for the even larger families that are about to descend on us,some german towns which are putting up with them at the moment are even laying on free coaches to take them to london,maybe we should lay some on to take them back.
Ryan
Its not a tax, its a reduction of the money the government gives you so stop moaning and get a job like us real tax payers
joe
this is a total farce, what will it encourage? just make all the jeremy kylers. bang out more kids, so it will cost more in bennefits in the long run,
Pete
Never a true word spoken Joe. There'a a couple by me the chap is 32 his wife is 30, both never worked they have a council house, run a car. They have three kids and it seem to be timed just as the latest one is going to school she is pregnant, so there seems a pattern developing. My son works in council houses where re furbs are being done (not round here) and sees this situation day in and day out. He went in an house only last week and a 13 yr old girl was looking after four other kids and the mom and dad was still in bed. i'm not saying this is typical but there is this situation out there, however I don't tar everone with the same brush, befor a barrage of offence comes my way !
Avis Lloyd-Dimmack
So what is the situation if like my daughter - you live in a 2 bed terrace house with 2 almost grown-up children - aged 15yrs - 17yrs - one of which is special needs !! Sharing a bedroom - Will she then getr a reduction in her rent?????
Here Again once more!
I have children with disabilities ( dyslexia and dyspraxsia). Before any hate mail, my parents worked all their life because in the days gone by people, employers didn't judge you, my dad worked at the same place for 32 years until his death at the aged of 57. Now my family.... one is at University, one is at college studying toward further Education.
Eventhou my children went to school, were/still are well behaved, still working on their education, whenever I tell people especially office staff, council staff (people who should know better) about the disabilities in the family they treat my children and me like we are slow minded and stupid, I can understand them thinking it about me as I have never been tested' therefore havn't received any help, but my children have excellent exams results. Some people hear the word disability and their brain must think' oh I'm better than you, you are a nobody in life'. Well my child at University is working toward a postgraduate degree, she isn't just standing behind a desk handling people paperwork and using equipment that gives you the answers.
I feel sorry for all disabled people and I think the hatred is only going to get a lot worse, I think people with disabilities should automatically be place in a job which they are are capable of doing, they shouldn't have to compete for jobs unless it with another disabled person.
I also think people should work for their benefit (s) it would probably stop a lot of people from stuffering from depression and give them a chance of learning new skills, but it might mean a lot of working people loosing their jobs because of the cheap labour.
Sorry about all the errors as I mention before I haven't yet recieved any help, and I maybe uneducated but I am willing to work if excepted.
Got to go now as I cook all my meals, which explains why my children are thin and not obese.
Gail
Theres is a sub-culture in council housing, generation after generation see it as the norm to have families in social housing and upgrade when families are big enough. (note the 3 mothers who are upset that their single-mother daughters housing may be affected by this).