With the much-criticised ‘bedroom tax’ almost upon us, a senior Labour MP, Frank Field, has called upon landlords in the social housing sector to brick up doors to spare rooms or even knock down walls to beat the government’s spare room subsidy.
Tax on spare rooms
Many believe that the so-called bedroom tax is deeply unfair, but the government believes that such a tax on extra bedrooms is necessary to help free up under populated homes and cut waste. From April 1st, social housing tenants will have their housing benefit cut if they live in a property with more bedrooms than they need. One spare bedroom means a 14% cut and two or more spare rooms equals a 25% reduction. So if your property has three bedrooms and there is only one tenant living in it, they are going to lose a quarter of their housing benefit, which will impact heavily on their ability to pay the rent.
Mr Field, MP for Birkenhead in Merseyside, believes the government housing benefit reforms will unfairly penalise constituents living in the North West.
“I’ve been in the House over three decades. I’ve witnessed many so-called welfare reform measures. I have not ever witnessed a measure which is so grossly unfair as this measure is. This is about a supply-side issue, but we are trying to control the demand of people on low income to fit on with the regimented holes in which the government would like to fit them.”
Housing Benefit costs around £21 billion per year, but as well as saving money, the government also wants to bring the social housing tenants more in line with the private rented sector.
