Black Country council tenants face benefit cuts on spare rooms

Figures obtained by the Express & Star show housing benefit changes dubbed "the bedroom tax" will hit up to 15 per cent of council and social housing tenants across the Black Country and Staffordshire in April and housing providers are having to help people work out how to manage their money.

The cut does not apply to pensioners and the Government has said it is trying to cut council house waiting lists by freeing up larger homes for families when the waiting list in the Black Country runs to tens of thousands of people.

Latest figures show that 4,912 council house tenants in Sandwell, out of 29,787 in total, are affected, as are 3,000 in Wolverhampton, out of a total 23,500.

A further 3,418 homes in Dudley, out of 24,000 council houses, have spare rooms as do 600 in Cannock Chase, out of 5,400 properties. A further 2,709 homes rented through Walsall Housing Group are also "under-occupied". Tenants with a spare bedroom face a cut of 14 per cent in their housing benefit and people with two or more spare rooms face a 25 per cent reduction.

Sandwell Homes said it had re-homed 410 households since last year because they wanted to downsize. The current waiting list for a council house is 13,779.

Councillor Simon Hackett, cabinet member for housing said: "Around 4,900 council tenants in Sandwell can expect to lose an average of £747 a year. The new rules will make it difficult for a lot of people who are already struggling to make ends meet."

In Wolverhampton, 132 tenants have so far said they want to downsize but there are 3,000 facing the cut.