Labour Claims Bedroom Tax Is 'Costing London's Poor £50m a Year'

The “bedroom tax” is squeezing more than £50 million a year from London’s poorest families, Labour has said. Unveiling new figures about the Coalition’s most controversial benefits reform, shadow welfare minister Helen Goodman said the average London family affected would lose £1,060 a year. Some 48,247 families in the capital have had benefits reduced because they have more rooms than they are deemed to need. But Labour said claimants cannot easily move to smaller flats because of waiting lists, meaning they end up without enough money to make ends meet. The figures show that Londoners lose more cash than people in any other region because of high rents. Read more on the Evening Standard website.

Housing Benefit: Young People – Parliamentary Written Answer

Helen Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many claimants of housing benefit are 18 to 21 years old; and how much his Department spent in each of the last three years on housing benefit for 18 to 21 year olds.

Steve Webb: At August 2014, the latest period for which data is available, there were 115,935 Housing Benefit claimants aged 18 to 21.

MP Lives On £18 a Week to Say Bedroom Tax Unfair

Helen Goodman MP is launching a series of Youtube videos about life after the bedroom tax. From February 18th she has been living on a food budget of £18 a week and video-blogging about it each day. £18 a week is the amount some of her constituents will be left with to feed themselves after the introduction of the Bedroom Tax in April. Helen Goodman says “It is completely unfair of the Government to introduce a Bedroom tax on the most vulnerable on the same day that they are cutting taxes for Millionaires.” Read more on Helen Goodman’s website.