A Department for Work and Pensions source reacted angrily to the government’s shock House of Lords defeat over welfare reform. The amendment will see households be able to keep a spare room without having to pay the tax if there is no suitable accommodation available. A DWP source said the amendment will mean the state will lose around £300 million of the savings to the housing benefit bill it was hoping to make. He said: ‘We are staggered - as will the thousands of families on waiting lists for housing be - by the decision of peers to exclude one-bedroom under-occupiers from the social sector size criteria measures. They are short sighted and out of touch and it won’t help to solve the problem of overcrowding in this country.’ The government can seek to overturn the amendment when the bill returns to the House of Commons in the new year. Read more on Inside Housing.
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