Second Manchester Bedroom Tax demo this Saturday
Article published: Friday, March 29th 2013
A second demonstration against “bedroom tax” housing benefit cuts is planned this Saturday as the threat of evictions looms over Manchester.
“Bedroom tax” protesters demonstrating outside Manchester’s Town Hall
Protestors will gather in Piccadilly Gardens at 1pm for a march and a rally in the city centre, following up on a hundreds strong demonstration in the city less than two weeks ago.
Over 12,000 households in Manchester could be affected by the cut, which slashes housing benefit for people in social housing by 14 per cent for having one spare bedroom and 25 per cent for two or more spare rooms.
The Coalition government says the change is needed to reduce under-occupancy in the social rented sector.
Critics predict rising homelessness due to a lack of smaller properties which can rehouse the numbers affected, and argue that the cut will lead to mounting arrears, evictions and debt as people are forced out of their homes and into the private rented sector.
Disabled people who need rooms for carers or equipment or lone parents whose children stay at weekends, will also lose out.
And Parliament’s all-party Public Accounts Committee has predicted that the change will lead to rising public costs due to a sharp rise in homelessness.
Loopholes
Controversy over the cut has been mounting. Some local councils have declared that they will not evict people for the tax, while others are using legal loopholes to reclassify rooms.
In Manchester many housing associations are signposting tenants to advice services to help cope with the change. But none have so far said they will refuse to evict people for the penalty.
Across the country only 11 per cent of social landlords plan to reclassify substantial numbers of rooms, according to research by the National Housing Federation. It is understood that such changes could damage the sector’s finances through reduced rental income and negative impacts on existing lending agreements.
Eastlands
Eastlands Homes, the housing association covering thousands of tenants in East Manchester, came under fire last week. An information leaflet sent to tenants asked, “Can you really afford Sky, cigarettes, bingo, drinks and other non-essentials? If your benefit is being cut and you want to keep your home you have to make up the difference.
“Non-essential items won’t matter if you lose your home. Start budgeting now – we can help you do this, call us!”
After a storm of protest and accusations of patronising residents the landlord issued a statement saying, “We’re sorry if our article offended you.”
A spokesperson added, “We know there will be stark choices – our message is that we are here to help wherever possible and we’re sorry if we worded that clumsily.”
Beating the Bedroom Tax?
Scotland: all nine Scottish National Party (SNP) local authorities have pledged not to evict tenants who fall into arrears due to bedroom tax – but only so long as they are deemed to have done all they can to avoid arrears.
A statement signed by SNP councillors declares they will “use all legitimate means to collect rent due, except eviction” if tenants do “all they reasonably can” to avoid falling behind on their rent.
Brighton: the Green Party-controlled Brighton Council says it will bring forward proposals to avoid bedroom tax evictions.
Councillor Liz Wakefield said, “As Greens, we cannot throw people out onto the streets just because they’re unable to pay it.
“I will therefore be bringing proposals that seek to ensure no household will be evicted from a Brighton and Hove City Council owned home as a result of ‘spare room subsidy’ rent arrears accrued solely from that household’s inability to pay this unjust bedroom tax.”
Merseyside: Knowsley Housing Trust, which runs 13,000 homes, is exempting some families from the bedroom tax by using legal rules to reclassify 600 homes as smaller properties.
Sheila Tolley, executive director of customers and communities at the trust, explained her reasoning in the Guardian. “After seeking legal advice, we now intend to re-classify these homes while ensuring that the existing households continue to live there. The reclassification will take place from 1 April and rents will be reduced accordingly.
Although this decision has been reached independently of the work we are doing to protect our tenants from the negative impact of welfare reform, tenants in these properties who would have been classed as under-occupying under the new bedroom tax rules, will directly benefit from these changes.”
She added, “The decision to reclassify these properties will cost us £250,000 a year in rental income, but our business plan has fully accounted for this together with smaller rent increases.”
Nottingham: the Labour-controlled council has put forward proposals to reclassify its high rise tower blocks as one bedroom flats – even when the flats have two rooms.
In a proposal reported by the BBC, councillor David Liversage said, “current demand for non-family accommodation significantly outstrips supply.
“If applicants that would under-occupy were also precluded…two-bedroom high rise flats would be extremely difficult to let given the household profile of those seeking accommodation from the council.”
Richard Goulding
More: Cuts, Manchester, News, Welfare
Comments
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We must all fight the thatcherite-scum on this .
Comment by Dodger on March 30, 2013 at 7:50 pm -
[…] said “The bedroom tax and council tax changes effectively cut benefits income by 27%. That could affect over 12000 households in Manchester. The Green Party is against this – locally and […]
Pingback by Manchester Greens Demand "No Bedroom Tax Evictions" Vote | Swinton South Green Party on April 7, 2013 at 10:26 pm
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