The Bedroom Tax Is Hurting More People Than Planned.

The Bedroom Tax has already led to many suicides of people who could not afford to pay their rent and could not bear to be made homeless. Now the Conservative government has admitted that 57,485 households are behind with their rent because of the benefit cut. And another 24,000 are in arrears because of Universal Credit or the benefit cap – both imposed by the Conservatives. The Tories aren’t brave enough to admit these facts openly – they hid the evidence in their English Housing Survey for 2014/15 – a document containing figures that are more than a year old. Read more on the Guerilla Wire website.

Sanctions Deaths 'Should Be Independently Investigated'

Suicides which occur following a benefit sanction should be investigated by an independent commission, a parliamentary committee has said. The Work and Pensions Committee report into benefit sanctions recommends suicides linked to sanctions should be scrutinised in a similar manner to deaths in police custody. The report also called for a review of the systems of benefit sanctions – which see unemployment benefits stopped or reduced if claimants fail to adhere to a wide range of criteria – in the next parliament. The government previously rejected a call for an independent review in January. Read more on the Parliament website.

Woman Worried About Bedroom Tax Killed Herself

A woman who was worried she would have to move out of her house or pay extra to stay because of the bedroom tax killed herself, a coroner has ruled. Stephanie Bottrill, 53, had raised a son and daughter in her three-bedroom council house in the West Midlands but was living there alone after her children moved out. On the day before she died, she told her doctor that she felt she was being pushed into choosing whether to move or to stay and face the prospect of paying extra, the inquest in Birmingham was told. Bottrill also told her GP she felt under pressure to make a quick decision. Read more on the Guardian website.

Samaritans Called In Over Liverpool Bedroom Tax Suicide Risk

The Samaritans have been drafted in by Liverpool's Riverside Housing Association to help deal with desperate tenants on the brink of suicide because of the bedroom tax. Staff at Riverside Housing Association’s head office in Speke are being trained by phone counsellors from the Samaritans as workers struggle to cope with the high volume of calls from tenants at risk of suicide.  And South Liverpool Homes (SLH) said in early May a tenant attempted suicide over the bedroom tax and earlier this year a resident committed suicide over issues believed to be related to financial hardship.  Read more on the Liverpool Echo website.

Pensioner Driven To Suicide by ‘Bedroom Tax’

A Solihull grandmother has killed herself because she was struggling to afford the government's 'bedroom tax', her son has claimed.  Stephanie Bottrill left a note in which she blamed the Government for her death.  Just days before she died, the 53-year-old, from Solihull in the West Midlands, told neighbours she simply could not afford to live any more.  Her family told the Sunday People she was tortured about how she would afford the £20 extra a week for the two under-occupied bedrooms in her home - money she owed because of the Government's spare room subsidy policy, the so-called "bedroom tax".  In a letter to her son Steven, 27, she said: "Don't blame yourself for me ending my life. The only people to blame are the Government."  Read more on the Sunday People website.