Bedroom tax

spankingtexan said:
I'll ignore your sky sport subs and smoke, drink remark but am interested in your statement with the offer of help by local councils for those who can't afford to pay the bedroom tax, source would be very much appreciated. Thanks.
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It's called the Discretionary Housing Payments System and is available to local authorities to supplement and help those in either arrears or real need with their rent due to exceptional circumstances. I spoke about this (and other measures, particularly in Wales on the last page)

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_a...sing_allowance/discretionary_housing_payments
 
Castiel said:
It's called the Discretionary Housing Payments System and is available to local authorities to supplement and help those in either arrears or real need with their rent due to exceptional circumstances. I spoke about this (and other measures, particularly in Wales on the last page)

http://england.shelter.org.uk/get_a...sing_allowance/discretionary_housing_payments
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Thanks, I'm concerned though as it's discretionary who will be considered to meet their what they consider to be exceptional circumstances. I still do not agree with this bedroom tax though and while I'll help any campaign to get it abolished I do of course welcome for the meantime any help the council offers to stop evictions.
 
spankingtexan said:
Thanks, I'm concerned though as it's discretionary who will be considered to meet their what they consider to be exceptional circumstances. I still do not agree with this bedroom tax though and while I'll help any campaign to get it abolished I do of course welcome for the meantime any help the council offers to stop evictions.
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The local council decide how the money is allocated. The larger problem is the HB system and lack of social housing, too much reliance on private landlords and insufficient stock of appropriate housing.
 
The problem with discrentionary housing payment is that it is limited amount, and there is the risk of inconsistency across councils about who can receive it due to the discrentionary part:

Shelter.org.uk said:
What is a discretionary housing payment (DHP)?

Each housing/council tax benefit department is given a pot of money each year to help people who qualify for housing or council tax benefit, but are having trouble paying their rent or council tax. The council decides who should be given the payments. When the money for the year runs out, no more payments can be made.
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Source (as posted by Castiel above)

DHP seems incredibally useful in the short-term but I think it is better as a supporting measure for anyone affected by welfare reform while they consider alternatives to having to pay the under-occupation charge. On a side-note, some landlords have been quite proactive and introduced a number of good initiatives, e.g.:

For tenants who want to stay
- offer financial advice, including completion of a budgeting sheet to help them decide if staying is feasable (i.e. affordable)
- employability referral where available (i.e. geographicaly limited agencies who are seperate but who may work in partnership with the job centre)
- point out that you can earn a small amount of money through working without it necessarily affecting your housing benefit entitlement (i.e. make up the short-fall without penalty, and encouraging stepping onto employment ladder)

For tenants who want to downsize
- assist with exchanges, pro-activley promote exchange system to help facilitate this
- consider priority moves (if allocations policy allows this) for those down-sizing by two bedrooms (which would free up family homes for people who need them more)

Both lists above are non-exhaustive, but given the reality of the situation it is worth being pro-active where your situation allows, regardless of whether you agree with changes to housing benefit.

It may be very true that rent arrears will increase but not every landlord is jumping on the eviction route and I doubt this is the default step for any social landlord at least, for various reasons, although I would sum it up by by suggesting that it is much better to spend energy on sustaining tenancies than on ending those which appear to be failing. I think the best strategy going forward is for landlords to invest (or continue to do so) in creating sustainable tenancies and adapting appropriately to the current benefits climate, but this in itself is a challenge (e.g. lack of one bedroom accomodation is a problem, not everyone can live in an environment where they can comfortably & safely share in a two bedroom property).
 
Force all the workforce on to £10/hr then then the government can take the rest to spend on immigrants.

It is imperative that my local Indian employs Indian people. Without it my Dansak simply will not taste the same :/
 
Castiel said:
Most of the impact of this is hyperbole and political points scoring..the very way that opposition parties call it a tax is indicative of this as it is no such thing.
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It's one of the most sccessful Labour lies this generation, they tapped into the nerve of the left and they've pounced all over it. Despite it being completely false
 
Daily Record said:
How to beat the bedroom tax: Legal advice gives hope to those hit by brutal cuts

THOUSANDS of Scots have been hit by the bedroom tax, which was introduced this month, and now Govan Law Centre have drawn up easy-to-understand advice to help those affected beat the cuts.

A CAMPAIGNING legal group have devised a simple guide to beating the bedroom tax.

Thousands of Scots have been hit by the brutal cut targeting some of the poorest and most vulnerable in society.

The tax on spare bedrooms has been branded the worst Tory policy since the poll tax in the 1980s.

Almost 100,000 Scottish households will be hit. They will have just a month to appeal against the cut using a dispute form.

Govan Law Centre in Glasgow have drawn up easy-to-understand advice to help our readers stop David Cameron picking their pockets.

The legal arguments are untested – but they say it’s the best advice on offer.

The Con-Dem cut saw housing benefit slashed from the start of the month for social housing tenancies they deem “under- occupied”. Tenants will lose a fixed percentage of housing benefit – 14 per cent for one room and 25 per cent for two or more rooms that are not used.

That’s £14 to £25 a week – and many tenants will fall into rent arrears and face eviction.

The guide yesterday won praise from politicians, trade unionists and charity leaders as a vital tool.

STUC deputy general secretary Dave Moxham said: “Practical advice on ways to combat some of the devastation caused while continuing to campaign against the policy is exactly what is needed.”

Labour MSP Jackie Baillie said: “This is a very helpful toolkit but it is no substitute for proper Scotland-wide action by the Scottish Government.”

The Scottish Council of Voluntary Organisations’ John Downie said: “We need to see lots more examples of practical support to help people over the next few weeks and months.”

The STUC will today debate an emergency motion about the damage caused by the bedroom tax at their congress in Perth.

The Govan Law Centre have submitted a petition to the Scottish Parliament calling for a change in rules to stop evictions.

To access the GLC toolkit visit www.govanhilllc.com/brtax

If you have a disabled person living in the household then you might be able to say:

1 - A disabled person lives in my house and requires their own bedroom because of the needs of their disability. To ignore the needs of a disabled member of my household and treating them as not being entitled to their own room to sleep in is discriminatory and unlawful in relation to the Human Rights Act 1998.

2 - The disabled member of my household needs a bedroom for therapeutic/care purposes to store medical equipment in relation to their disability.

3 - My home has been specially adapted to meet the need of a disabled person.

If someone in the household has mental or physical health problems you might be able to say:

A member of my household has mental or physical health problems which would make moving them from their home harmful. Such a move is discriminatory and unlawful in relation to the Human Rights Act 1998.

If you have kids who had previously been in a household that experienced domestic violence you might be able to say:

My children need a safe space because they previously lived in a household which experienced domestic violence and requiring such a move is unlawful in relation to the Human Rights Act 1998.

If you have a small galley-style kitchen you might be able to say:

I have a small galley-style kitchen and you have wrongly classified my dining room as a spare bedroom.

If you have a bedroom which is a small boxroom you may be able to say:

I have a small boxroom which is not a bedroom and you have wrongly classified this as a spare bedroom.

If you are separated from a former partner and share child care on a part-time basis, you might be able to say:

I am separated from my former partner and require the room you have wrongly classified as a spare room to meet my child care and parental duties. To ignore my duties as a parent and ignore the needs of my children to stay with me, is discriminatory and unlawful in relation to the Human Rights Act 1998 and contrary to the Children (Scotland) Act 1995.

If none of the above applies, then you may wish to argue the following:

You have wrongly classified as a spare bedroom the room I use as a family play room/storage room/games room.
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Might be useful for some.
 
Biohazard said:
Might be useful for some.
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Not really, I doubt in any of those cases the people in question would have been affected.

You won't get away, in social housing, telling the people who own the house what the rooms are classified as.

I have a galley kitchen, you cant classify the second floor room as a bedroom, its a dining room!

We must protect our free money squeal squeal!
 
atpbx said:
Not really, I doubt in any of those cases the people in question would have been affected.

You won't get away, in social housing, telling the people who own the house what the rooms are classified as.

I have a galley kitchen, you cant classify the second floor room as a bedroom, its a dining room!

We must protect our free money squeal squeal!
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It was for people who may be affected on here.

Re-classification does happen anyway, in some circumstances it could help people.

Scottish Government said:
“I would also like to make you aware of flexibility that exists to classify bedrooms in your properties for the purpose of housing benefit. A process of reclassification is available, on a variety of grounds, for properties where circumstances change. For example, where a tenant requires an extra room to store equipment if he or she is disabled and therefore cannot use that room as a bedroom. The process is one that DWP leave up to the consideration of landlords and Local Authorities and involves landlords contacting their local authority Housing Benefit section to inform them of the change of classification.”
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Many councils and housing associations here are sympathetic and are probably quite malleable to these suggestions.
 
amigafan2003 said:
Yes, that's exactly the same as no money :rolleyes:
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Damn my sense of personal responsibility... although not as much as this pointless fallacy that you need to have screwed up your life to understand why others should be forced to pay for your choices.
 
On a similar note what I'm worried about is not the bedroom tax but how rent is now paid to the claimant under this new universal system.
I can't remember what paper I read it in but a council area tried this not that long a go and found rent arrears sky rocketed due to the individuals spending it on other things, I think they also sited alcohol and drug related crimes also sky rocketed during this time, and they may also have had a study of local cigarettes sales increasing too.
I fear it this that will cause families to become homeless, those that are irresponsible to their own needs and perhaps those that don't know how to deal with budgets.

I have bit of a thought, very basic and crude, where the poor will always be poor due to not saving.
I have freinds (and an ex) from a less fortunate background than myself and as soon as any money is come upon it's automatically spent, yes sometimes it's something they need, but usually it's something like a new TV, car or some holiday (usually to a council estate abroad) or just blown away on a weekend and clothes instead of putting this money aside for when they need it or saving it up for when they need something in the future, ie needing a deposit for flat.
 
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