Officials braced for flood of calls when bedroom tax bites
COUNCIL officers in Bristol expect to be swamped with calls from worried tenants when the new bedroom tax is introduced next month.
The council has sent out three letters to tenants explaining the changes from April 1.
They have also been urging people who live in council properties to come forward for advice.
But they are still bracing themselves with a flood of inquiries when their benefits are reduced.
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About 4,500 households in Bristol alone are expected to be hit by the new tax.
They will receive a cut in benefit if they are deemed to have one or two spare bedrooms in their home.
For those who under-occupy one bedroom, they will have to find an extra £12 a week while those with two-beds will be cut by £25 a week.
A raft of welfare reforms began last year with cuts in child benefit.
But those only affected families with a combined income of more than £60,000 and therefore not living on the breadline.
But the so-called bedroom tax is regarded as the first big cut in benefit which affects low-income couples and families.
The Government is introducing the measure to cut public expenditure and encourage tenants to downsize when living a home which is too big for them to help ease the housing crisis.
Members of the council's Quality of Life Scrutiny Commission were told yesterday that the number of affordable homes which are currently being built each year is 275, down from a peak of 600.
But the mayor George Ferguson has set a target of 1,000 a year by 2016/17.
Councillors were told that a programme of bringing empty homes back into use had helped to house more than 200 people who were considered vulnerable.
Labour Councillor Ron Stone said housing crisis could be eased by tapping into the city council's pension fund which was currently valued at £2.2 billion.
He said afterwards: "Borrowing £50 million for homes is a small beer for a fund of this size. It would provide an ethical investment with a good rate of return and create real jobs and apprenticeships."
He said there were council-owned sites in the city which would provide enough land to build 4,000 homes.
Councillors were told the pension fund was governed by a board of trustees who had to abide by a laid down set of rules.
They represent a wide range of public service workers who have now retired.
7 Comments
by Shas_J
Wednesday, March 13 2013, 10:31AM
“I dont agree with the 'mansion tax'. What if I win the lottery and buy a big house/mansion paying the higher rate of stamp duty and council tax then have to pay another tax just because I under occupy? Sorry - not fair at all! The 'excess bedroom benefit' aka bedroom tax should only apply to council and housing association tenants only.”
by Brandon_Hill
Wednesday, March 13 2013, 10:01AM
“I'm talking about people in mansions.. If there is a family of 5 in a house with 5 or more bedrooms, then they should pay bedroom tax relative to the value of the property. The money recouped can go back in to the public coffers and perhaps be used to pay for public services that have been cut by the tories”
by Shas_J
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 6:11PM
“Sadly Brandon_Hill those on benefits don't pay council tax so an increase wouldn't hit them.
If they don't want to pay the 'excess bedroom benefit' the answer is simple ... move to a smaller property and live to your means like us taxpayers have to! :)”
by Brandon_Hill
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 5:14PM
“They should increase council tax on those who live in houses with spare bedrooms. The money generated here could go to supporting public services that have been cut..
Fair?”
by roly12345
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 12:30PM
“Having just reread my last post, it has dawned on me, the current penalty system only targets those on benefits and not the wider population of under occupiers, which in itself is discriminatory and therefore open to judicial review.
If the aim is to free up homes that are underused, why is it the poorest who have to suffer, surely a policy to tackle under-occupancy should fall on everyone's shoulders?
I see a court case coming up and not for the first time, I see another ill thought out government policy thrown in jail.”
by roly12345
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 12:17PM
“While I have every sympathy for those who are facing this penalty, I can't help but feel a greater affinity with those stuck in overcrowded homes and aggressively priced private housing.
This rationing of our limited housing stock is necessary and could have gone a lot further and in my mind a lot fairer, by compulsory removal of tenants whether they could pay the rent or not.
Is it fair that a single person with a good income, who can afford the very cheap rent of a three bedroom council house, be able to keep the spare rooms for his collection of trinkets instead of saving a family from a miserable state.
Maybe a fairer solution would be to increase the rent for under-occupation, rather than decrease the benefit, this would then affect every council tenant with rooms to spare, not just those on benefits.”
by BarryW
Tuesday, March 12 2013, 9:01AM
“Not a tax
'Excess bedroom benefit'”