Will the Bedroom Tax Hit Northerners the Hardest?

The government's under-occupation penalty, known to many as the bedroom tax, was brought in under the banner that it would tackle overcrowding and bring down the benefits bill. Yet when you look closely at the realities of this one-size-fits all policy, the rhetoric starts to unravel. It won't save the taxpayer money or solve the housing crisis. And it will disproportionately affect the north of England.  According to the government's own data, families with a spare room outnumber overcrowded families by three to one in the north of England. If the point of the bedroom tax is to solve the problem of overcrowding, thousands will be hit by the bedroom tax despite there being no local need for them to move.  Take Redcar and Cleveland in the north-east as an example. Local housing association Coast & Country has 1,800 households who are currently under-occupying their properties and looking for a smaller home, but they only have two one-bedroom homes available on their books which these people could move into. If these residents moved into smaller privately rented homes it would cost the taxpayer an extra £470,000 a year. Read more on the Guardian website.