Poor families living in social housing that is protected by landlord insurance look set to be penalised for staying in a property that the Government deems too large for their needs. The Coalition had previously claimed that the families would lose an average of £620 but now that is set to rise to £1400 a year.
The new “size criteria” scheme has come under attack by the NHF (National Housing Federation) who are worried for the huge number of families who are going to struggle with the cuts. Based on cuts of up to 25% of a family’s housing benefit that the Coalition plan to introduce in 2013, a household who are classed to be under occupying a three-bedroom home in the UK will face losing up to £22 a week. The household would then be forced to choose between finding the money from elsewhere in their benefit budget or moving out of their home. The problem will be even worse in London where a family under occupying a three-bedroom property would have their housing benefit docked by £1385 a year, which will be the biggest penalty of any region throughout Britain. Separated parents will also be penalised for keeping a bedroom for when their children visit.
David Orr, chief executive of the Federation, said “We have been deeply concerned about this bedroom tax for some time but these new figures show the damage will be far worse than previously thought. Thousands of hard-up families face penalties of up to £1400 a year simply because the Government have deemed their homes are suddenly too big for their needs. This will have disastrous implications for huge numbers of people already struggling to make ends meet in the tough economic climate, including foster carers, grandparents, disabled people and smaller families.”
The NHF is calling on the Coalition to make the rules more flexible and allow one additional bedroom above that permitted by the criteria, saying the present rules could damage the fabric of home life for many disadvantaged families.