The Bedroom Tax on Bereavement

Families will be hit by the bedroom tax if a room remains unoccupied for just three months after the death of a family member, bereavement charities have warned. There have already been several cases of families in social housing told that rooms left “spare” after the death of a child or other family member will become subject to the controversial spare room subsidy. Currently households are given 52 weeks before they are reassessed, to allow them to decide whether to move or to re-occupy the room before they incur cuts to their housing benefit. But under Universal Credit scheme the stay of grace is to be cut to just three months, the National Bereavement Alliance (NBA) said. Read more on the Independent website.