Bedroom Tax Impact on Grant Allocations

Housing providers have warned that the government is ‘storing up future problems’ because more than three-quarters of its grant funding programme will be used for the development of one and two-bedroom homes. Of the 62,000 homes to be developed with the 2015-18 affordable housing grant allocation, 77% will be one and two-bedroom properties after the government requested that providers focus on smaller-sized properties. The allocation has been widely interpreted as a reaction to under-occupying tenants needing to downsize to avoid the bedroom tax. Housing providers told Inside Housing that civil servants from the CLG had contacted them to scrutinise why they had included bids for funding to build family-sized homes. Read more on Inside Housing.

Sale of Small Council Homes Condemning Thousands to Bedroom Tax

Thousands of one- and two-bedroom council homes have been sold off since 2010, preventing tenants affected by the “bedroom tax” from downsizing to avoid the penalty, research shows. Figures obtained by The Independent show that a severe shortage of smaller council homes across the country is being exacerbated by the Right-to-Buy scheme – leaving many victims of the bedroom tax with no choice but to accept reduced benefits. In the areas hardest hit by the housing crisis, more than two-thirds of council homes sold off under right-to-buy since the Coalition came to power had one or two bedrooms, figured obtained under Freedom of Information show. Read more on the Independent website.

Landlords Reject HCA's Smaller Homes Requirement

Housing associations say they won’t bid for grant funding if they are required to build small homes. Scores of English landlords are threatening to reject £1.7 billion of government grant if they are forced to build large numbers of one and two-bedroom homes. The bidding criteria for the 2015/18 affordable homes programme, which covers all of England, apart from London, states that providers should ‘focus’ on providing smaller homes in areas where tenants are under-occupying. Read more on Inside Housing.

Housing – Parliamentary Written Answer

The Lord Bishop of St Albans: To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they will consider extending discretionary housing payments to the rural areas with the smallest numbers of one bedroom properties, in addition to the areas already covered. 

Lord Freud: Following the Autumn Statement it was agreed that the additional £5 million funding for the most rural/remote areas would be maintained in 2014/15. The Department is currently consulting Local Authority Associations and will provide details of individual allocations by early February.

3,200 People Fighting For Just 45 Homes in One City

More than 3,000 people in one city are waiting for just 45 homes in a bid to avoid the ConDem’s ‘Bedroom Tax’, shock new figures have revealed. Critics say the statistics highlight the charade of the Government commitment to free up living space for larger families. Desperate to move, residents in Newcastle upon Tyne are being asked to leave their homes, but have nowhere to go, and so have been forced to pay up. Housing chiefs admit they have nowhere near enough single bedroom homes available for them. Up to 3,232 people are on the waiting list for a one-bedroom property in the city with only 45 homes available, the equivalent of 72 people for each property. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Nine Year Wait for One-Bed Property

Council tenants are facing a nine-year wait for a one-bedroom property, the YEP can reveal. Stark figures show around 15,000 residents are currently languishing on waiting lists chasing just 35 available one-bedroom properties in Leeds. More than 4,335 tenants are deemed by Leeds City Council to be under-occupying their homes and in need of one-bedroom properties because they could be subject to the Government’s so-called Bedroom Tax. And the council warned tenants could turn to higher priced private sector rentals to avoid the ‘tax’, which would actually drive up the city’s benefits bills.  Read more on the Yorkshire Evening Post website.

Bedroom Tax Could Make 1000s Homeless

Research at False Economy shows that a severe shortage of one-bedroom properties will hit tens of thousands unless new homes are built.  Data from 107 local authorities shows 86,000 households have been forced to look for one-bedroom homes, of which only 33,000 have become available in the past year.  The figures mask considerable regional variation. In Essex, 100 social housing tenants in Rochford were deemed to require a one-bedroom property because of the benefit changes but only five had become vacant the previous year. In Gloucester the council said 111 one-bed homes had been available last year, but almost 500 households needed them because of the bedroom tax. Read more on the False Economy website.

Just 50 One-Bed Homes for 7,000 Hit by Bedroom Tax In One City

The bedroom tax will strip 7,000 households in one city of vital benefits, despite there being just 50 one-bed homes available to downsize to.  The research, in Newcastle, reveals 5,379 council tenants there have one spare room.  The plan means they will lose 14% of their housing benefit, worth £8.40 a week on average.  Another 1,258 households with two spare bedrooms face a massive 25% cut, the equivalent of £15 a week, or £780 a year.  Yet Your Homes Newcastle, which looks after council housing stock, has just 50 one-bedroom homes available, even if those 6,637 families affected were able or wanted to move. And there are thousands more Housing Association residents in the city, who could also be hit when the changes come in next month. Read more on the Daily Mirror website.

Million Households Seek One Bedroom Homes

Nearly a million households on housing waiting lists require one bedroom homes, according to government figures.  Demand for smaller properties is likely to soar from April, as social tenants look to downsize to avoid the impact of the government’s ‘bedroom tax’ for underoccupation.  However, figures published by the CLG show there is already huge pressure on the limited number of smaller homes in the social housing sector.  Of the 1.85 million households on local authority waiting lists, 964,697 are after one-bedroom homes, and 504,533 require two-bedroom homes.  Read more on Inside Housing.