Rural Communities Will Be Destroyed By the ‘Bedroom Tax’

The ‘bedroom tax’ will lead to the break-up of rural communities who are bearing the brunt of benefit cuts, a leading rural network has warned. Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE) says the Government’s under-occupation charge for social housing tenants will force people to leave the villages where they grew up. The charity says a dearth of one and two-bedroom homes in the countryside means rural tenants have no choice but to move into towns and cities if they cannot make up the rent shortfall.

ACRE claims the Government failed to ‘rural proof’ the penalty, which cuts the benefits of tenants of working age in homes deemed to have spare rooms. Read more on the ACRE website.