Just over a week since George Osborne declared as “unbelievable” the Welsh government’s opposition to many of his welfare reforms, the BBC has today unearthed evidence demonstrating the extent of the impact of the bedroom tax.
Just over a week since George Osborne declared as “unbelievable” the Welsh government’s opposition to many of his welfare reforms, the BBC has today unearthed evidence demonstrating the extent of the impact of the bedroom tax.
With ministers in Westminster now pledged to take away from housing benefit claimants 14 per cent of their benefits where they have a spare room in a social house and 25 per cent where they have two spare rooms, BBC Wales is reporting that its own inquiries have shown there are “70 times more tenants than smaller properties available” for those affected to move to.
Incompatible
The report, based on a survey of Welsh local authorities and compiled by BBC Wales economics correspondent Sarah Dickins, shows that across the country more than 28,000 people are in social housing that is considered under-occupied as a result of having spare rooms.
However, there are just under 400 one-bedroom homes to move to. In four council areas – Ceredigion, Blaenau Gwent, Monmouthshire and Torfaen – there are, the report notes, “no one-bedroom houses available with local housing associations”.
Coupled with the 70,000 families or individuals currently on the social housing waiting list in Wales, the devastation being imposed on Wales by the bedroom tax is clear for all to see.
Whilst so much of what Westminster is trying to do is, in Cameron’s words, about injecting fairness into the system, the impact of the changes in Wales is now also increasingly being seen through the lenses of it breaking entire communities up.
Human cost
In its report, the BBC highlights the case of 43 year old Dennis Tranter who lives in a family home on the Cefn Golau estate near Tredegar, Blaenau Gwent, where he lived with his mother and father and six brothers and sisters. His mother, however, passed away last year and he has two spare rooms which means he is expected to move house or face a 25 per cent cut to his housing benefit.
“It would be devastating [to move] because I’ve been here all my life basically I’ve built a home here and I don’t want to give it up. I know everyone and they’ve grown to know me.The neighbours are tidy and I get on with everyone up here.”
Picking up on the devastation being inflicted on Welsh Communities, John Puzey, director of Shelter Cymru, has said:
“We are talking about people here who have lived in these communities for a long time and I know housing managers are really worried that long-term residents and stable neighbourhoods will be forced to move on.
“That could change the nature quite drastically of those kind of neighbourhoods so I think there’s real concern about what this will mean in terms of neighbourhoods and community cohesion.”
Concurring with the sentiments, a spokesperson for the Welsh government has outlined the concerns of housing minister, Carl Sargeant, over the “devastating impact” it will have “on many poorer households across Wales.” The spokesperson continued:
“The Welsh government is committed to doing all it can to ensure that the change does the least possible damage to our communities. However, we are under no illusion. We know that people will suffer hardship and this will put even more pressure on public services that are already straining to cope due to the current financial climate.”
An assessment by the Department for Work and Pensions suggests that Wales will be hit proportionately the hardest by the bedroom tax with 46 per cent of social sector tenants likely to be affected by the tax.
49 Responses to “The bedroom tax is already ruining Welsh communities”
DaveC
For a good blog on this bedroom tax and possible avenues for appeal, try looking at SPeye. A very good blog by a housing professional. Old LB just doesn’t know what he/she is talking about.
Robert Malcolm
This government should take note. Being sick or disabled is not a life choice. If more people were to request information under the freedom of information act They would soon see the lies that the public are told in order to remove or reduce benefits. I challenge the government to provide proof To the Public and News Papers of two generations of benefit claimants or even better still three generations. I would also challenge the Government to provide information on the number of families claiming benefit for 10 or more children or people getting more than 26K per year in benefits. I have seen the true figures. You are using the extreme minority of people to target everyone. Your policies are hitting the hard working tax payer by removing the safety net that they pay for through their taxes. Imagine working hard and finding yourself sick or disabled only to be told the support you thought you’d get was no longer there. This is a Government that would not entertain a mansion tax or close the loopholes for the real tax evaders and indirectly give the millionaires an extra £100,000 a year. This is the same Government that uses the hard working tax payers money to pay for second properties and claim unreasonable expenses for themselves.Millionaire Government members that claim benefits that they don’t really need. Why should the hard working tax payer pay for the expenses of millionaire MPs or help to subsidies their meals or lifestyle. I’m sure they could afford to pay for these things themselves. The bedroom tax is a discriminatory tax because it targets a particular group of vulnerable people. People wanting to move to avoid this are unable to do so because there are nowhere near enough properties to accommodate. You could wait years before the council finds you a suitable property only to find your situation changes months after moving. They are being forced to pay extra because of the governments inability to provide suitable accommodation. How can that be fair? What about the disabled person that uses the spare room to allow other family members and themselves to obtain some sleep or a break from the stress and demand of providing for their needs. I personally know of a pensioner in social housing with 5 bedrooms and he will not be asked to move or pay extra for having extra rooms. If the government makes any exclusion towards any group of people then they are discriminating against every one else. I read the other day that rapists and criminals in Northern Ireland will be exempt from paying. Now tell me is that fair? Ask yourselves what sacrifices has this Government or the greedy rich made. They have turned us against each other to take the attention away from them, the real people who got us into this mess. If we allow them to get away with this they will just do it again knowing that they can get away with it. We bailed out the rich to be treated like this. it’s unbelievable
Tim Kelly
If the ‘living’ benefits, like JSA and income support etc are calculated to be the very LEAST that people may survive on (and do not account for energy price rises already), then where exactly do these people find the money to top up their rent payment and now 9% council tax too ? Surely for most it is going to be from the very subsistance payment they are given. This effectively is a removal of life support akin to attempted assault/murder in essence. I don’t even see how this can be lawful and surely there is something under Human rights law that could be applied here…
For any taxpayer who thinks the unemployed suck their tax payments, first consider that the Government allowing private individuals to issue money via banking, this takes £8 to create £1 for society, thus allowing 8/9th of created wealth to be retained by banks and is the very reason we have income tax at all, to pay the interest on Government bonds that could instead have been treasury notes at no interest and a fraction of the cost as there would also be no capital to pay back either. So fundamentally the miserable payments to the less fortunate are a dot to a planet in term of cost to you… Currency is based on the backs of the people, let us be the ones to create it and then we thrive.
patricia cross
1st step to an appeal to your local council re the bedroom tax housing benefit decision.
http://speye.wordpress.com/2013/04/10/bedroom-tax-council-naughty-step-bradford/#comments
STANDARD LETTER – asking for more information
Date
HB Address
Your HB reference number
Dear Sirs,
(insert your name, address and postcode here)
Please provide the following information in writing so that I can submit a formal HB appeal within the given time. Please advise when that date is by return.
A copy of the council’s written policy that includes a definition of a bedroom.
Failing that a copy of the councils informal or working definition of what is a bedroom for under occupation / bedroom tax purposes.
A copy of the council’s written policy which states precisely how the council makes a bedroom tax decision.
A copy of any letter or other correspondence you sent to my landlord (insert landlord name) asking for information about my property.
A copy of any correspondence you received back from my landlord in response to your request.
Does the council’s policy in making a bedroom tax decision differ from the guidance given by central government in the A4/2012 HB circular and/or the SI 3040 of 2012.
Yours faithfully
Etc
Guest
Just started checking how the so called Austerity measures will affect us here in Maesteg, the basic figures are for the general Bridgend area, however Maesteg as always will be hit hard, during the Thatcher years our town, a thriving market town was decimated by the closures of the mines, we have never recovered, shops stand empty, the community spirit is at an all time low and unemployment is a fact of life for many, Maesteg is a forgotten town, Bridgend council care very little for it, no traffic control, very few police and very little for youngsters to do, the figures below have been supplied by the financial times, why our own council or counsellors did not do this themselves is beyond me, we pay these people to look after our interests, they like the politicians work for us, what are they doing, what is Huw Irranca-Davies doing, are they speaking up, are they fighting for our rights, MPs want a huge pay rise on top of their expenses councillors get paid, for what! what are they doing for us and the greater community, this money that we as a community will lose, and please don’t think if you’re working that it won’t affect you, money lost is money not paid to the local economy, if you have a business how this will affect you, jobs lost business closing, bridgend council should be doing everything in its power to get our town thriving again, we need cuts yes, to business rates and rents, people want to work set up businesses but simply can’t afford to, enough of the rant let’s get to the figures.
Under Occupancy (Bedroom tax): Number of households affected 1600
Total annual Impact: £1 million
Annual impact per working age adult: £11
Household Benefit Cap: Number of households affected 80
Total annual Impact: £0
Annual impact per working age adult: £4
Non Dependant Deduction: Number of households affected 800
Total annual Impact: £1 million
Annual impact per working age adult: £10
Child Benefit: Number of households affected 17800
Total annual Impact: £6 million
Annual impact per working age adult: £67
Tax Credits: Number of households affected 11200
Total annual Impact: £9 million
Annual impact per working age adult: £102
Local Housing Allowance: Number of households affected 4000
Total annual Impact: £4 million
Annual impact per working age adult: £43
Disability Living Allowance: Number of individuals affected 1900
Total annual Impact: £6 million
Annual impact per working age adult: £63
Incapacity Benefits (ESA etc): Number of individuals affected 4900
Total annual Impact: £17 million
Annual impact per working age adult: £194
1% Uprating:
Total annual Impact: £9 million
Annual impact per working age adult: £106
Overall Impact:
Total annual Impact: £53 million
Annual impact per working age adult: £599
AREA IN CONTEXT
Political
Members) of Parliament who represents part or all of this local authority area: Huw Irranca-Davies (Lab), Madeleine Moon (Lab)
Economics
The Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot NUTS3 region had a gross disposable household income of £3.7bn in 2010. The total £115.4m in benefit changes the region faces amount to 3.08 per cent of the region’s disposable income, or approximately 1 year and 9 months of regional growth.
The Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot NUTS3 region also includes Neath Port Talbot.
Deprivation
In Bridgend, 28.2% of neighbourhoods are among the poorest 20% in Britain. The average for local authorities in Great Britain is 15.1%.
So great is reliance on social security in some areas that the changes, when fully implemented, will in effect eliminate 6.5 years of real household disposable income
The traditional industrial areas such as the Welsh Valleys, will be hard hit, particularly by tighter eligibility requirements for disability benefits.
Sources: Professor Christina Beatty and Professor Steve Fothergill, Sheffield Hallam University.
Database funded in part by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting | Methodology | Download the data