New bedroom tax

[phil76]

My gran has a 2 bedroom flat and her son lives with her aswell and he also works,Grans housing benefit is not affected,I thought her HB would be affected because she has her son there who works full time but he doesn't have to pay any rent??

[Nystagmite]

My gran has a 2 bedroom flat and her son lives with her aswell and he also works,Grans housing benefit is not affected,I thought her HB would be affected because she has her son there who works full time but he doesn't have to pay any rent??

 

Bedroom tax only affects people of working age.

[phil76]

Bedroom tax only affects people of working age.

 

Ah ok thanks,upto what age is working age?

[citizenB]

I was speaking with a legal expert friend of mine the other day, and with the government losing one of the bedroom tax court cases last week then they are going to have a hell of a job in defending the 10 cases coming up in May. It is obvious no one thought any of this through and the government should have announced in the budget it would be put on hold for a year until the court cases have finished.

 

Is there a link to this case please ?

[jadeybags]

This bedroom 'tax' is seriously flawed & complex though isn't it. A seriously over weight (no other health problems) 50 odd year old still living in a 5 bed house with no extra rent to pay (yes I know them) yet a 50 odd year old widow on the news tonight in a 2 bed bungalow is packing up (granted she's been lucky to find a swap on home swapper to a smaller place) but a 2 bed bungalow??? what use is that to a family? Round here the requirement for bungalows is 50+ how many 50+ folk have dependent children still at home. It doesn't make much sense to me at the moment tbh.

[estellyn]

This bedroom 'tax' is seriously flawed & complex though isn't it. A seriously over weight (no other health problems) 50 odd year old still living in a 5 bed house with no extra rent to pay (yes I know them) yet a 50 odd year old widow on the news tonight in a 2 bed bungalow is packing up (granted she's been lucky to find a swap on home swapper to a smaller place) but a 2 bed bungalow??? what use is that to a family? Round here the requirement for bungalows is 50+ how many 50+ folk have dependent children still at home. It doesn't make much sense to me at the moment tbh.

 

I don't understand the point you're making - if both have no one else living there, then they would both be suject to bedroom tax.

[Nystagmite]

The second room could be used for a carer?

[estellyn]

The second room could be used for a carer?

 

Someone living alone in a 5 bed house would only need one bedroom for a carer, even if one bedroom was converted - say to a lift, that is still two extra bedrooms subject to bedroom tax.

[dyfed]

I asked my MP if he was paying bedroom tax on his second home seeing as we the tax payer are paying for his second home and if we are all in it together then there should be no diffetence between social housing and mps second homes.

MPs recently asked for a 50% rise in second home allowance.

So they kick us in the balls and run off with our money. Again.

[Surfer01]

I asked my MP if he was paying bedroom tax on his second home seeing as we the tax payer are paying for his second home and if we are all in it together then there should be no diffetence between social housing and mps second homes.

MPs recently asked for a 50% rise in second home allowance.

So they kick us in the balls and run off with our money. Again.

 

Bedroom tax only applies to council tenants and those claiming housing benefit. It does not apply to privately own homes.

[jadeybags]

I don't understand the point you're making - if both have no one else living there, then they would both be suject to bedroom tax.

 

Only the widow is subject to the bedroom tax.

That's the point I was making...

[Nystagmite]

Only the widow is subject to the bedroom tax.

That's the point I was making...

 

Not if they're of pension age.

[worried33]

So let me get this straight. Money is being taken off of poor housing benefit claimants who are considered to have too big a home....and yet money is being given by the government so that well off people can buy a bigger home.

 

yes.

 

and meanwhile noone bats an eyelid as if they blind to the truth.

[Guest]

They can do as they like it seems.....look after the wealthy and all stick together..same old same old.

[id6052]

Is there a link to this case please ?

 

i suspect they are referring to http://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2012/629.html

[estellyn]

Only the widow is subject to the bedroom tax.

That's the point I was making...

 

If both live alone in social housing then they are both subject to the bedroom tax.

[jadeybags]

If both live alone in social housing then they are both subject to the bedroom tax.

 

Oh right, the local news were lying then lol

 

And both in their 50's not pension age.

[estellyn]

Oh right, the local news were lying then lol

 

And both in their 50's not pension age.

 

Yep, reporters often lie or bend the truth. Could be that the true story is that the woman in the five bed house only pays bedroom tax for two extra bedrooms, but not the other two (as the max is for two bedrooms). Or has been awarded an amount from the discretionary fund due to adaptations. Also there is always the typical agenda of portraying the money grabbing, lazy, obese person in contrast to the poor, put upon, widow. Just another example of playing different groups against each other.

[worried33]

Yep, reporters often lie or bend the truth. Could be that the true story is that the woman in the five bed house only pays bedroom tax for two extra bedrooms, but not the other two (as the max is for two bedrooms). Or has been awarded an amount from the discretionary fund due to adaptations. Also there is always the typical agenda of portraying the money grabbing, lazy, obese person in contrast to the poor, put upon, widow. Just another example of playing different groups against each other.

 

yeah I dont trust the media.

 

I rang up a hotline a while back for a documentary on benefit fraud, I asked if they would show both sides of the story to which they said yes, however when I told them I am happy to talk about the other side (people wrongfully denied benefit) they lost all interest in me. I would never have really proceeded with it tho as I dont want my personal details given to any reporter even if they appear friendly to the cause as nonne can be trusted, but I was testing the waters to see how they would react.

[id6052]

Yep, reporters often lie or bend the truth. Could be that the true story is that the woman in the five bed house only pays bedroom tax for two extra bedrooms, but not the other two (as the max is for two bedrooms). Or has been awarded an amount from the discretionary fund due to adaptations. Also there is always the typical agenda of portraying the money grabbing, lazy, obese person in contrast to the poor, put upon, widow. Just another example of playing different groups against each other.

 

possibly the first person is not claiming HB and therefore not affected by bedroom tax, this would explain why she does not have any extra rent to pay

 

would be interesting to see link to original article

[estellyn]

possibly the first person is not claiming HB and therefore not affected by bedroom tax, this would explain why she does not have any extra rent to pay

 

 

Yes another 'bending of the truth'. sadly, the end result of these types of news stories is that some woman ends up being harrassed and having bricks through her windows.

[jadeybags]

possibly the first person is not claiming HB and therefore not affected by bedroom tax, this would explain why she does not have any extra rent to pay

 

would be interesting to see link to original article

 

Both claiming housing benefit, the widow wasn't on an article, her story was on the local news on ITV here in the south east.The obese lady is a 'friends' mother. I think the discretionary payment thing must have come into play then, because she is definitely not having to pay any bedroom tax. But apparently there have been adaptions made in the house in the past. Her daughter isn't happy because she is also in a 5 bed, in the same estate & yet because only 3 kids still live at home she has to pay the bedroom tax. I don't get the feeling they are a close family! She said 'I don't see why they can't put her in a bungalow somewhere!'

[estellyn]

Both claiming housing benefit, the widow wasn't on an article, her story was on the local news on ITV here in the south east.The obese lady is a 'friends' mother. I think the discretionary payment thing must have come into play then, because she is definitely not having to pay any bedroom tax. But apparently there have been adaptions made in the house in the past. Her daughter isn't happy because she is also in a 5 bed, in the same estate & yet because only 3 kids still live at home she has to pay the bedroom tax. I don't get the feeling they are a close family! She said 'I don't see why they can't put her in a bungalow somewhere!'

 

Reversing the adaptations may be prohibitively expensive, especially if adaptations would need to be made at a new property.

 

It makes me sad that so many people's reaction is to somehow try to blame the person who is 'better off' than they are, rather than put the blame where it should be. While we're all griping at each other, we're not taking the fight to the government.

[jadeybags]

Reversing the adaptations may be prohibitively expensive, especially if adaptations would need to be made at a new property.

 

It makes me sad that so many people's reaction is to somehow try to blame the person who is 'better off' than they are, rather than put the blame where it should be. While we're all griping at each other, we're not taking the fight to the government.

 

True say. And it's dividing families too now, that's good for the government though.

[Nystagmite]

She said 'I don't see why they can't put her in a bungalow somewhere!'

 

These have probably been taken up by other people. The fact is, there are more people wanting smaller houses than there are smaller houses.