Households hit by bedroom tax struggling to pay rents

People living in housing associations in Yorkshire are among those worst affected by the measure behind only those in the North East, according to the National Housing Federation.

A survey of 183 English housing associations, carried out for the federation, found that 66 per cent of their residents hit by the bedroom tax are in rent arrears, with more than a third reported to be in debt because they were unable to afford the cut in housing benefit imposed when officials decide under new rules that they have more bedrooms than they need.

The federation, which represents housing associations, said this was equivalent to 72,000 housing association tenants in England alone who are in rent arrears due to the policy introduced as part of the coalition’s welfare reforms led by Work and Pensions Secretary Ian Duncan Smith.

The survey says that housing associations in Yorkshire have an average of 500 tenants each affected by the bedroom tax, with each household facing an average annual reduction in their housing benefit of £684 a year.

Official figures show nearly 51,000 households across Yorkshire saw a cut in their housing benefit in August last year, and that two-thirds of people affected by the bedroom tax are disabled.

Demand for discretionary housing payments, a limited emergency fund provided by the Government for the most vulnerable households affected by the bedroom tax, has risen drastically over the past year, with applications up 273 per cent on average across Yorkshire, according to the federation.

As rent arrears build up, letters are sent out warning residents they are at risk of eviction.

Nationally, more than one in seven households hit by the bedroom tax had received an eviction risk letter by October and are in danger of losing their homes.

Daniel Klemm, the National Housing Federation’s external affairs manager for Yorkshire, said: “You can argue over what to call the policy, but there is no disputing the impact that the bedroom tax is having in Yorkshire, and across the country.

“It is heaping misery and hardship on already struggling families, pushing them into arrears.

“Now many are at risk of being evicted because they simply can’t find the extra money to pay their rent.These people have done nothing wrong. The Government has suddenly changed the rules and given them a false choice – move to a smaller home or pay.

“Yet we know there aren’t enough smaller homes for these families to move into.

“Housing associations are doing all they can to avoid evicting residents, but as not-for-profit organisations they can’t simply write-off unpaid rent.

“From day one we have said the bedroom tax is unfair, unworkable and just bad policy.

“It’s putting severe pressure on thousands of the nation’s poorest people and must be repealed.”