Freud to Break Bedroom Tax Pledge

Lord Freud has backtracked on his pledge to protect vulnerable and disabled people from the bedroom tax, new government guidance has confirmed.  Currently, supported housing is classified as ‘exempt accommodation’ and not included in the bedroom tax, benefit cap or universal credit. But identical accommodation does not count as exempt if the landlord is a council or not the provider of care.  Previously, the minister has suggested the government had been successful in fulfilling a pledge to protect supported accommodation not meeting the current ‘exempt’ definition from the ‘unintended consequences’ of welfare reform. In a letter to housing groups, the DWP said: ‘We believe virtually all the provision previously at risk will now be protected by these changes.’ But new DWP has dashed housing providers’ hopes that more supported housing will be protected from the bedroom tax. Read more on Inside Housing.