Bedroom Tax - Coming Soom

[JimTheGent]

Has anyone heard about the impending Bedroom Tax for people in receipt of Housing Benefit and living in Social Housing? It is not widely known yet but if you have more bedrooms than the new Welfare Reform Bill says you need, your Housing Benefit will be reduced by 14% for the first bedroom and further reduced for each bedroom after this.

 

If you do not have the child benefit paid to you but share access, residence and custody of your children, this will affect you. Only the parent receiving the child benefit is entitled to full housing benefit.

 

When faced with a shortfall in rent options are:

Pay the difference in rent yourself

Take in a lodger

Move home to a smaller property.

 

THIS ONLY AFFECTS PEOPLE IN SOCIAL HOUSING NOT PRIVATE TENANTS

 

By reducing the Housing benefit of people who already have little or no income, it is forcing them into a situation where they cannot pay their rent and once they fall into arrears, eviction mechanisms automatically kick in.

 

Surely this is discrimination against poor people and separated parents. Forcing them to move home seems to be a form of ethnic cleansing. Clearly it is an attempt to free up much needed family homes but it obviously has not been thought through properly.

 

There are not enough 1 or 2 bedroom homes for people to move into because Housing Associations were previously encouraged to build 3 and 4 bedroom homes to allow families to grow.

 

People living in social housing have often spent money on their home. They have commitments which have often carried connection fees and minimum term contracts etc. Moving home is an expensive (and traumatic) experience - who will cover all of these costs? For parents with shared access who are forced into smaller properties, where are their kids going to sleep?

 

Legal Aid has been dismantled so there is little in the way of legal advice in order to challenge the decision to reduce Housing Benefit. Nevertheless a legal challenge needs to be prepared.

 

This is going to affect a lot of people but there does not appear to be much said about it.

 

Thoughts anyone?

[SWLABR9]

My thought is you should read this. It's going to be absolute chaos. http://speye.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/what-is-a-bedroom-and-why-landlords-dont-want-it-defined/ and remember, there's no legal aid to help, which is a disaster in itself because it's only case law that's going to sort out everything that the idiots IDS, Freud and Grayling haven't thought of.

[marmaris30]

Some good points made about families with children and parents living apart, which does seem like a decent reason for an extra room. Hopefully the changes will allow people time to make alternative arrangements where necessary.

 

THIS ONLY AFFECTS PEOPLE IN SOCIAL HOUSING NOT PRIVATE TENANTS

 

This isn't quite true though. Private tenants who claim Housing Benefit and are not lucky enough to have obtained social housing, have been required to base their claims on an assessment if 'needed' bedrooms for many years. If the 'need' changes because someone moves out or ceases to qualify, the effect on benefit paid is more or less immediate. Don't report the change of circumstances and it gets worse very quickly

[JimTheGent]

My thought is you should read this. It's going to be absolute chaos. http://speye.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/what-is-a-bedroom-and-why-landlords-dont-want-it-defined/ and remember, there's no legal aid to help, which is a disaster in itself because it's only case law that's going to sort out everything that the idiots IDS, Freud and Grayling haven't thought of.

 

A very interesting read. Perhaps turning the extra rooms into dining room/office/play room etc could provide some extra time for those affected. It seems very wrong to force the Social Landlord to do the dirty work of chasing rent arrears and defining how many bedrooms the house has when it is the Government enforcing these changes.

 

The blog post makes a valid point about the need for template letters to challenge the unavoidable decisions to reduce Housing Benefit. Perhaps this is where CAG members can help?

[JimTheGent]

Some good points made about families with children and parents living apart, which does seem like a decent reason for an extra room. Hopefully the changes will allow people time to make alternative arrangements where necessary.

 

I doubt the changes will give people much time at all. Once the decision has been made to reduce the Housing Benefit a person immediately falls into arrears unless they can find a way to pay the shortfall. Once they fall into arrears the landlord will immediately start recovery action. This will force people further into poverty and eventually lead to eviction. This process also appears to avoid costly compensation claims by tenants who will quite correctly point out the true expense of moving. If they cannot afford to pay the rent they certainly will be unable to afford to move, redecorate, pay deposits etc etc.

 

This isn't quite true though. Private tenants who claim Housing Benefit and are not lucky enough to have obtained social housing, have been required to base their claims on an assessment if 'needed' bedrooms for many years. If the 'need' changes because someone moves out or ceases to qualify, the effect on benefit paid is more or less immediate. Don't report the change of circumstances and it gets worse very quickly

 

Thanks for this information. I did not know private tenants were already assessed for this. However, current guidelines allow seperated parents to have extra rooms where they have shared access or shared custody. It appears this has been removed under the new Welfare Reforms.

[RaeUK]

If you have a two bedroom property, live there alone and on HB, then take in a lodger who is also on HB then the LA is paying more in HB for that property then they would have done otherwise...

[JimTheGent]

When the Government introduced a window tax people blocked up their windows. Will people block up their bedrooms in order to save their home?

[worried33]

yeah there is massive shortage of council flats compared to houses. My view is if they find someone has excessive rooms then 'they' should rehouse that person to somewhere suitable, if they themselves cant do it then how do they expect the tenant to do it with less resources.

[JimTheGent]

Here is a very god blog post explaining the impact of the "stealth" Bedroom Tax on the poor and vulnerable

http://hhgrahamjones.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/governments-appalling-decision-to.html

 

True, there is a shortage of social housing but evicting people does not solve the problem. It simply moves one family at the expense of another. It makes the situation worse because there are not enough smaller properties to go around. The solution is to build more houses which would also create jobs and help kick start the economy.

[queensclose]

my sister in law is renting private and has 2 daughters in a 3 bedroom house and shes been told its under occupied because 2 girls have to share a bedroom

[Slatted]

And of course, another rule coming in next year is that after age 16 children are supposed to be in their own rooms so then there would be over occupancy issues if they share....it is ridiculous isn't it?

[RaeUK]

... My view is if they find someone has excessive rooms then 'they' should rehouse that person to somewhere suitable ...

 

So, because I live alone in a two-bedroom property, I should be forced to move? Leave the home I love and have lived in for 15 years? When I get decrepit and have to move, fair enough. But why should I lose my home otherwise? Why should I be forced out of a place I have been entitled to reside in? Why should I have to leave the village where I have friends and good neighbours? Perhaps they should just load us up into the cattle trucks ...

[Nystagmite]

yeah there is massive shortage of council flats compared to houses. My view is if they find someone has excessive rooms then 'they' should rehouse that person to somewhere suitable, if they themselves cant do it then how do they expect the tenant to do it with less resources.

 

Where? And why should this person lose their support network?

[queensclose]

your not been forced to move. just been told to pay part of the rent out of your benefits. plus they are cutting benefits left right and centre. everyone is been screwed. the disabled are being moved from DLA to PIP with the help of atos. so i guess a lot of disabled people are will lose theirs altogeher.

the government have done to much to soon and a disaster is just round the corner

[reallymadwoman]

I'm wondering if one of the Dad's charities might take this up because it appears to me that where there is shared care or staying access, Dads are going to be affected more than Mums since it's usually Mum who gets the child benefit, and that is discrimination on grounds of sex.

 

Also, what is going to happen to all these people being evicted because they can't pay the rent? There's a fair chance that a good proportion of them are going to be people the local council are obliged to house, so they'll spend a few months in a B & B or maybe the council will have to lease some private sector properties to put them in until they're rehoused eventually in alternative social housing, having cost far more than it would have done to just pay their rent in the first place.

 

A bit like we'll spend an absolute fortune reassessing all these fake disabled people then spend another fortune dealing with all the appeals only to find eventually it would have been cheaper to leave well alone.

[RaeUK]

I understand the situation, queensclose, and actually see myself as most fortunate for the moment. The forthcoming drop in my HB would have been enough for me to be at severe risk of losing my home but this has eased with my recent DLA award. I appreciate that may only be a breather until PIP pips up ...

[queensclose]

Sadly the council are not obliged to rehouse people evicted for rent arrears. Well said the government go on about fathers taking responsibility then kick them in the teeth. I guess the government target the minority and effect the majority

We have a woman in a 4 bed house around here on her own. Only been their 6 yrs all kids have now moved. She's says why should move. I waited long enough to get it.

[45002]

More here http://www.housing.org.uk/policy/welfare_reform/bedroom_tax.aspx

[SWLABR9]

Your problem then becomes proving to the DWP that you aren't living as a couple, another aspect of these reforms that hasn't been considered yet.

[JimTheGent]

Sadly the council are not obliged to rehouse people evicted for rent arrears. Well said the government go on about fathers taking responsibility then kick them in the teeth. I guess the government target the minority and effect the majority

We have a woman in a 4 bed house around here on her own. Only been their 6 yrs all kids have now moved. She's says why should move. I waited long enough to get it.

 

To be fair she has a point. We do not know her personal circumstances - her family could come and stay for holidays etc. People who have been awarded houses have been assessed, gone on a waiting list, made multiple applications and then been awarded somewhere to live based on the assessment of their need. Many have waited years to get a property. To be forced to move out of your home simply because the Government has sold off the housing stock and not built more houses is unjust and immoral.

 

It used to be a tenant was guaranteed a home for life and this formed the basis of a social contract between tenant and landlord. The tenant then often improved their properties and communities were built. The Government are always banging on about reducing Anti-Social Behaviour and building stronger communities but the Bedroom Tax will have the reverse effect if people are not allowed to settle and are constantly forced to move. Housing stock will be worsened because tenants will have no incentive to look after or improve the buildings.

 

In the case of the tenant who has a 4 bedroomed house and lives alone, incentives should be offered to encourage her to move to a smaller property. Forcing people out of their homes harks back to Dickensian times and is not very Big Society at all.

[worried33]

So, because I live alone in a two-bedroom property, I should be forced to move? Leave the home I love and have lived in for 15 years? When I get decrepit and have to move, fair enough. But why should I lose my home otherwise? Why should I be forced out of a place I have been entitled to reside in? Why should I have to leave the village where I have friends and good neighbours? Perhaps they should just load us up into the cattle trucks ...

 

What I meant was if they think you should mov e (I am not saying thats my view), then they should rehouse instead of just telling you that sit you have to move.

 

That is better than the alternative which is they make large cuts in HB and you then probably have to move anywhere unless you have spare income to subsidise.

 

Also if you under 35, its not just going down to one room they want people under 35 to also go down to a shared room rate aka bedsit.

 

The current housing rules are breaching age discrimination, and the new housing benefit rules take it to a new level of discrimination.

[SWLABR9]

It also makes nonsense of any suggestion the under-25s should be denied HB on the basis they should be going back home to live with their parents. Many of their parents will have no room for them having been forced to move to smaller properties once children have left home. The Coalition policies are at best incoherent, at worst simply punitive.

[Nystagmite]

Also if you under 35, its not just going down to one room they want people under 35 to also go down to a shared room rate aka bedsit.

 

And where are all these shared houses? They're being occupied by families with children.

[worried33]

It also makes nonsense of any suggestion the under-25s should be denied HB on the basis they should be going back home to live with their parents. Many of their parents will have no room for them having been forced to move to smaller properties once children have left home. The Coalition policies are at best incoherent, at worst simply punitive.

 

ahh yes I forgot about that one also.

 

my parents moved when I was 20 to a one bed flat which did also have a box room but that box room is used by my dad as an office. This meant when my sister was homeless I had to take her in, and likewise if I ever become homeless I guess she will be returning the favour, as my parents have no space to take anyone in. This was also the case long before I was 25. More stupid assumptions made by government and the DWP.

[antone]

On a related note, you may recall that the cuts to, and restrictions on, Housing Benefit were justified by the Coalition on the grounds that it would place deflationary pressure on the rental market, forcing landlords to reduce rents. So, I wonder how that's working out.

 

Rental costs in private sector 'at record'

 

Oh dear.