What are your views on the bedroom tax?

[Cheekychops84]

the new tax for hb claimants where u loose some hb for bedrooms u don't need? we work so at the moment won't b affected but if workers later on down the line are affected I think is a bit unfair as we are paying all rent and bills ourself at the same price as Private Rent?

[maninawomansworld]

I think the 'tax' is absolutely right, however I don't think it should apply to people who have lived in their homes a long time.

I'm not sure how the number of years or criteria would be set but something along the lines of 'If you've lived there over 20 years and really looked after the place / not been a nuisance to neighbours / paid rent on time etc then you can be exempt' would seem pretty fair to me.

[Susie1966]

My story.

I have lived in this council house since 1970. Where my family have worked paid rent and tax. As well has funded our own decorating after the council and late HA had done their repairs. We are talking about £100s of pounds here. My dad and mum worked hard but could not afford their own house. But later both had health problems. And I have stayed at home caring for them. Though I have worked. Have had experience of unemployment. But chose to study to fill my time. I am still caring for my father who is 73. We still pay rent and council tax. And have never claimed HB. Should my father pass away there may be a possible chance I would have to claim HB. Should it happen. I just think the Bedroom Tax would be unjust and unfair. My family and I have tried to do the right thing. And have never caused any trouble here. And are decent people. If the housing association think they are gonna tell me to sling my hook. After all the years here living in peace. They will have a mess!

[Eastpoint]

Bump

[kittythames]

Bump out the spam!

[madbengal]

The issues I have with it is that if you have a room for visiting children ie stepchildren you have to pay and if you foster you have to pay as "they are not part of your family" also I feel its discriminating against those on benefits as those with council properties with bedrooms they dont use but don't claim any benefits aren't included

This thankfully doesnt effect me yet but as we are looking to move to be able to foster it will then

[Alincoman]

Further more I am in a housing association property and have spare rooms..They have no suitable accommodation to down size me to.If I move into a private rented property I will still have to pay towards the rent there, so a no win situation on that one. I may as well stay putt .Not only that,where will I find the money for 1,removal costs 2, deposit on a private rented property, 3 money for new carpeting as my home has laminate flooring..On top of that I'm disabled with a muscle disease and other illnesses linked with that..so won't be easy to move either..

Does this government not realise they will be making rods for their own backs..Those struggling to feed their kids and them selves as it is & because of this in April next year they could and many will turn to crime..Who would blame them if their kids are going hungry.The cost of said crimes in police time and court costs if theyre caught will be many thousands of pounds..They then get fined but cant pay it,they then get re-arrested & returned to court ( more costs). The magistrates then send them to prison for none payment of fines (even higher costs).The prisons will soon fill up and new ones will have to be found/built..Those total cost of these crimes will far out weigh the money this government are saving in housing benefit cuts..And those on here that are saying its right to have to pay it, by this i mean the working persons it's them then that will also be footing these bills for crime and the ones who will most likely be targeted by criminals. Its wrong to turn to any crime, but I can see it coming..Just food for thought this last bit...I don't think they have seriously thought this out, to me it's a no brainer...

[Teabagtights]

What about me. My son comes home three months a year almost four. Where is he supposed to sleep If I'm in a one bed flat? I work and get minimal housing benefit which I will lose. He still has a room with all his stuff in.

[Alincoman]

I'm in the same boat and we could all loose DLA & mobility under the reforms in April too..You will pretty much have to be on you're death bed to get it..When it changes we are not automatically entitled to it..You have to make a fresh claim even if you like me was awarded it for life..

[Alincoman]

Are you all aware that they are cutting our council tax benefits in April too..They estimate that you will have to pay 20% of that..They will only give you 80% of the benefit .So even when you down size you're still hit by this one too.So they got us all ways now..

[ladyfleck]

it allready is for workers, i am 53 and i work in a care home, i work 30 hours a week, and i get 32pounds a week help with my rent, i get this help because i am told by hb that by law i need a 111pounds a week to live on after rent, but i have two daughters that one has left home and rents in private accomadation my other daughter is at university and may come home after university but we may not be able to take her in. The three bedroom house we have, is now being taxed, i am two bedrooms over my need so i have to find
another 24 pounds a week more, so according to hb i am not getting by law 111 pounds to live on, because i have to pay this 24 pounds from that i also pay all my councle tax my self allready

[Carolecags44]

I forgot to mention I'm also a disabled mum on severe disability allowance and DLA, as if life isn't bloody hard enough the government pile more stress on :0(

[Carolecags44]

What I don't understand is does this bedroom tax apply to private renting a property the housing association house I'm I is far to big I'm going to have two bedrooms to much so will have 25% deducted from my full housing benefit there are no housing association swaps etc in my village so I thought it would be better to private rent I found a place it's really cheap rent at £395mth my housing cap in my area is £365mth so I realise I would have to top that up would I also be penalised because I have one extra bedroom in the private rented its far to confusing :0(

[OutragedAtThePriceOfFreddos]

That does seem a bit stupid Starmaker. No one likes tax, so it's bizarre that they choose to call it that. Maybe they chose tax because it's preferable to 'cut'.

[starmaker7]

it doesnt help that our council are calling it a 'tax' (that's exactly how it is on the website) as are most other websites

[achillea]

The empty homes tax is a tax to the property owner but the HAs and councils are passing that tax on to their tenants (the only way they can cover the cost).

[expatinscotland]

It's not a tax, though. It's a reduction in housing benefit. I highly doubt those who own a second home claim housing benefit.

[achillea]

Thanks expat, you're right but this rule will eliminate any future under-occupation.

It's an odd new tax really because it began as an empty homes tax for people with second homes. This will probably reduce tourism in rural areas and reduce house prices as well which is good because it will enable people to live there, but bad because there won't be any work for them. So they get a nice house, but no work.

It's another one of those 'on yer bike' ideas that the Tories like to come up with from time to time! Sounds great but let's look at the detail please.

[expatinscotland]

Pensioners are not affected by the rules, ibizagirl.

[achillea]

There is nothing they can do to move someone out who is disabled, disabled people won't be affected by the new rules. It may actually cost the council more in the long run anyway as it might affect her health. The HA could offer her an alternative nice manageable bungalow but if she doesn't want it they couldn't force her to move.

As for the elderly, I think the reason for this ruling is precisely to close that loophole as it were. In the old days a lot of elderly would be glad of a nice bungalow that was manageable but only if it is in their area so large houses have been under-occupied for sometimes 50 years simply because they could stay.

It may be that now the HAs have built lots of 2 bedroom apartments in towns and cities with lifts they might start to move the 'empty nesters' into those, freeing up the big houses for families.

[ibizagirl]

interesting thread. This road is housing association and joined on is private. Just counted the number of three bed houses with one person in and it is 5. That is just the ones i know about. I know that the one lady was asked if she wanted to move and she said did she have to and they said no. She is disabled and has had cancer recently and has nurses come in every day. She can't do a thing for herself and the house is a mess. Surely she should be "made" to go into something more suitable thus freeing up a large 3 bed with large garden? She is also in a motorised wheelchair so maybe a bungalow? One lady opposite has been in her house since 1954 when the houses were built but obviously had her husband and son there but she still lives there and she is 81. She said she wont be moving and she doesn't pay any rent so will it make any difference to her and the others?

[sashh]

Point one - I don't know what the discretionary housing fund is. But I do know that people who need a carer to live with them will get the extra room free.

If the carer is living there then it isn't a spare room.

[achillea]

When the dreaded Universal Credit comes in the rules will be changed again, it says so on the Housing Federation website. Your taxpaying couple will probably come out better then, but those who have been ill for years perhaps, will suffer even more.

[Socknickingpixie]

we do indeed agree about that. i do think people in social housing with to big houses who live alone should be encouraged and supported to hand them back but not if they have kids at home or legit reasons to stay.

i also guess its how you would define a benefit abuser but the gov makes no destinction between an abuser and what any reasonable person would class as a legit claiment they are all targeted by this.

say for example you have a very large family with parents who have allways worked and paid tax but because the family is so large have little or no savings they live in social housing,say one parent got sick but not enough to be concidered as disabled just enough to lose a job,and the other parent got let go due to say the company having problems. nobody would have any problems with them claiming benefits at all because hey they have paid in so no probs, well they would be hit by the cap and the other rules. just the same as they would if they had never worked. its not really right.

[achillea]

People like to sneer at benefit abusers but this rule is going to effectively tar straightforward empty-nesters with that same brush, they are 'getting something for nothing' too.

Bear in mind I do agree with this tax in principle (mainly to get empty-nesters to move on before they retire - that's fair) but following the Tories recent outbursts about Lazy Britain I can now see that it's far more than an effort at saving public spending, it's fuelled by the extreme right in the Tory party who are now beginning to show their true colours.

[Socknickingpixie]

achillea sadly thats correct even if having a bedroom less means you are legally overcrowded if your children are expected to share under the hb rule (same sex under 16 different sex under 10) then you will still get the hb deduction.

given that also when they bring in the cap you could have your hb allready decreased (as thats where the claw back is expected to happen) to make sure you dont recive over the cap the extra room tax will then be deducted after the cap is done so you will get an additional 14% taken away on top of what they allready take because of the cap.

its going to really hit people and even hb staff are a bit and by it i dont think many of them knew how many hits would be taken and how brutal it was actually going to be by hitting the very people they said it would protect iyswim.