Downsizing Tenants Face 24-Year Wait For Homes

It would take 24 years to rehouse everyone hit by the bedroom tax in the east of England who needs a one bedroom home even if a third of those properties were set aside for them each year.  A report by Cambridge University’s Centre for Housing and Planning Research found it would still take eight years to rehouse all those under-occupying who need a one bedroom property if almost every vacant one bed home was allocated to them.  It would take the region’s councils almost 23 years to clear their waiting lists if they adopted this approach. The report concluded many tenants would ‘pay to stay’, spending an average of £14 a week, while awaiting a transfer.  A 24-year wait would cost them £17,472.  Read more on Inside Housing.