Bedroom Tax

This is not about some levy being imposed on intimate activity.
No, it is the Government's latest effort to hit those who are already down.
From this year, anyone on benefit who has a spare bedroom will lose some of their benefit.
This will particularly impact hard up families. If you have two children, they will have to use one bedroom until they are at least 9 years old (mixed sex) or 15 (same sex).
An example of the issues is that it is of course not possible to magic up a new bedroom when your children reach 9 or 15. You would need to have a "spare" bedroom awaiting the appointed "anniversary" - but if you do, you will lose benefit every year until the anniversary is reached.
Another nonsense is that if a tenant goes to their Council or Housing Association asking for a smaller house, those bodies have no obligation to provide one. Should they fail to do so, the tenant will lose benefit, even though they have done everything in their power to rid themselves of the spare room(s).
Clearly, there are some people occupying homes which are significantly too large for them e.g a couple living in a four bedroom house. However, in trying to catch such people, the Government have penalised growing families who will need more bedrooms as the years pass.
One obvious solution, is to allow families with more than one child one spare room. This would give a little flexibility and reduce pressures on those who are already hard pressed financially. Benefits are not generous, so we do need to give some leeway to those who need a safety net for their children.








 

Sunday, 3rd February 2013

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