Scotland's new income tax!

I agree with that, it would be better if we could get everybody into a secure tenancy in a home that’s right for their family, whether that’s social housing/private rent/owned. The part I really strongly disagree with is the notion that social tenants just have to lump it when these sweeping changes are brought in that could either push them over the breadline or force them to move miles from their support network and schools.

I agree with that. They should be offered an alternative, if they refuse they should be taxed. I get there is no right answer, but we shouldn't be encouraging empty rooms when there is a shortage of housing. We have lots of 1/2 beds over occupied and lots of 3/4 beds under occupied.

When they move out it becomes a spare bedroom, and in anywhere but Scotland would be eligible to be taxed.

This is the thing though, you can’t uproot settled families/force them into poverty by applying a tax without offering them an alternative first. Kids would have to change schools, leave all their friends, parents would have to stop work/change jobs/move away from family/friends/support network. That’s why my point is that the only solution is investment and building on an epic scale, because you can’t help homeless/overcrowded families by creating more.

NRA... Just to be clear I agree with most of your points. There is absolutely a need for more housing and housing support. But we need to use what we have to it's full capacity to minimise the impact.
It's the families that are living in too small houses or no houses at all that are being impacted

What happens when your kids turn 16 and they move out?

In my Council area which calls it LHA (local housing allowance) it’s based on the make up of your household. So for example if I had 3 kids, 2 boys aged 13 and 15 and a girl aged 5 they’d pay for a 3 bed home since the boys could share. However if I had a girl and a boy aged 13 and 15 they’d do the same, as over 10 boys and girls can’t share according to the rules. But if I had 2 under 10 of different genders they’d only pay for a 2 bed because they’re deemed able to share.
I can’t speak for every council area, but I do know that’s the procedure in North Lanarkshire. When I claimed housing benefit 6 + years ago, I was in a private rental and housing benefit didn’t cover all of my rent, I had a £60 shortfall to make up despite not having a bigger home, or extra bedrooms.
There are scarcely any 1-2 bedroom homes available locally from the Council or HA, unless they’re in godawful areas, and that’s in spite of new homes being built over the last 10 years pretty regularly.

We need to support people to find stable housing, work (if they are fit to work) and security. Just stopping/cutting money is not the way to do that, it’s brutal, ineffective and inhumane, as well as feeding into the DM/channel 5/Tory myth that everyone in social housing/on benefits is some kind of scrounger living the life of Riley.

NRA.. I may be wrong, so feel free to correct me, but I thought housing benefit was based on the level of your rent, not the number of people in the house.
There are people who used to be have larger housing needs but who's kids have left home still in large properties getting the benefits for these
... Like to say I may be wrong

That’s the thing, it just doesn’t register with some folk that even professionals are financially struggling just now. On STV news the other night there was a nurse who had had to use foodbanks, despite working full time in the public sector!

Not just for the very poor but for people in employment on salaries above the minimum wage who at the moment struggle to get on the property ladder. These people would be able to pay a fair a rent for a secure roof over their head and over their lifetimes more than cover the cost of their homes. They may even start families younger and have more children mitigating the effects of the demographic time bomb that's going to hit when the 2nd generation boomers hit retirement age and start getting old and frail.

@lessworriedaboutthecat absolutely! Grenfell Tower sadly brought into the mainstream the attitudes towards social housing tenants and also the problems with a severe lack of social housing stock, and yet nothing has been done.

LHA or housing benefit is paid based on the makeup of your household, ie how many people are in it and siblings sharing is taken into account, so I’m not sure why you think people are being subsidised to live in bigger houses?

The problem is the lack of suitable of suitable alternative accommodation.

I think the nations number 1 priority should be building a vast amount of social housing.

NRA... Being subsidised to stay in a property larger than your needs is not affording it imo

NRA... I'm nor saying it's a perfect policy, there is no perfect solution to the social housing shortage, there isn't the funds to build enough. But I agree if you have a family of four in a two bed house and a family of 2 in a 3 bed house we are not using the available stock to its full advantage. I would rather SNP had adopted policy but only applied it where alternative accommodation was offered and refused. It's not just about the people in the housing... It's about the people not in it.

@Lichtie but the people affected by bedroom tax could afford it until that ridiculous policy came into force??? And let’s not pretend housing benefit provides a palatial home, or even a fit for human habitation one at times! It’s very very basic.

No but if you have a mortgage or rent and you can't afford it you don't just get to stay there regardless.

And having read further back, I’m yet to see an example of how Westminster under the Tories has improved life for anyone???

pissing myself laughing at the “better calibre of politician one though

100% agree with what notreally just said

ditto

If you don't own it, it is not your home

I’m lost for words. Obviously there needs to be a better system so families/people can have access to social housing that is the right size for them, but the Bedroom Tax wasn’t it. Like Nyx says, if there were options to move to a smaller property locally that would have been better. But the “if you don’t own it, it’s not yours” smacks of the boot on the neck that the Tories are so fond of. People have the right to a safe home where they can settle. Whether that’s social housing, private rented or owned is irrelevant. People in receipt of benefits and/or social housing shouldn’t be made to feel they have to justify every move they make, that’s really demeaning. I’m bloody proud of the fact that the SNP countered the bedroom tax and ensured many families weren’t pushed into further poverty because of Tory policies. It’s one of the things they’ve done that I’m really, really proud of.

I’m not on benefits and I do own my own home, but it wasn’t always that way, and I well remember how much attitudes which sneered or patronised hurt.

So if you're renting, you don't have a home. What if you're paying a mortgage, is it 'your' home if you still have payments to make?

I don't disagree that the system has its flaws. It's the governments responsibility to make sure there is suitable housing. But we shouldn't have subsidised under utilised housing when there are other families in need. If you don't own it, it is not your home.

Melony, what's with the "yes, but... yes, but...."

Tell me a list of things Westminster has done to make peoples' lives better?

So pretty much what lessworried said! Sorry for repeating! Typing on my phone in between working...

Yes, Lichtie, it's all very well saying if you have a spare bedroom we're going to dock your housing benefit, if there is somewhere suitable for you to move to. But there often isn't, and the person/family are stuck where they are, with their spare bedroom, having had their benefits cut and there's nothing they can do about it. And it's quite a large cut, as far as I know. So you've got families being evicted because of no longer being able to pay their rent, and it was just not well thought out at all. If there were suitable smaller properties ready to move into, fair enough, but that simply isn't the case.

Also there were the issues with disabled people needing a room for their carer, or their equipment, etc. This was leading to them having their benefits docked. No more, thanks to the SNP, but it was a worry for a lot of families.