100,000 Trapped In Larger Homes Want To Move

The ‘spare room subsidy’ or ‘bedroom tax’ has left tenants struggling to cope and has failed to free up homes in many areas, research for the independent Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has found. It also discovered that savings to the DWP will fall short in the policy’s first year. The findings come in two separate studies published by JRF. The first is on the Housing Benefit size criteria (often referred to as the ‘spare room subsidy’ or ‘bedroom tax’). The second looks at the impact wider welfare changes have had on social landlords and tenants. The findings use the latest available data to provide an early snapshot of how the policies have affected tenants, landlords and the government, one year on from a raft of changes to the benefits system. Read more and download summaries of the two reports at the JRF website.