In an attempt to deal with the problem of under-occupation in the social housing sector, the government is introducing a new ‘bedroom tax’. This is a cunning way of slashing the benefits budget because it penalises people living in houses with more bedrooms than they actually need: anyone who rents a property with spare bedrooms will be forced to move to a smaller property or face a 14% reduction on their housing benefit cheque for one extra bedroom, and a 25% reduction for two or more extra bedrooms.
So if a family chooses a property with more rooms than they need, perhaps because they are planning to have another child or they regularly entertain family or friends and need a spare room, they can expect to pay a hefty premium for the privilege. Children of different genders will be expected to share a bedroom up to the age of 10, or 16 if they are the same gender.
As a result of such changes, landlords who operate in the social housing sector could soon find their larger properties are much harder to rent while smaller one or two bedroom properties are very much in short supply. There is also likely to be an increased demand for properties in the private rented sector as families living in housing association properties are forced to look for a smaller home in order to retain their existing benefits. And with the cost of living rising almost daily, many families living on the breadline will be pushed even deeper into poverty in the worst affected areas.
