Hundreds feel effect of the bedroom tax
Families in Perth and Kinross hit by cut to benefits
Swinney MSP with Carol Evans Hundreds of residents in Perth and Kinross are being impacted by the so-called bedroom tax.
The Welfare Reform Act 2012 - more commonly known as the bedroom tax - is when someone’s housing benefits are reduced if the property they are renting is deemed to have more bedrooms than is necessary.
In Perth and Kinross, 7783 residents claim housing benefits. Of this total, 827 have been adversely impacted by the so-called bedroom tax.
This means 11 per cent of those collecting housing benefits are receiving less than they should do because of the bedroom tax.
The impact on local residents has been criticised by the SNP’s Pete Wishart, MP for Perth and North Perthshire.
He said: “The bedroom tax is an appalling and inhumane policy. Over the last four years, the SNP in government has spent over £350 million mitigating against such inhuman Tory austerity cuts as the bedroom tax and it is time that it was scrapped completely.
“With the imminent introduction of universal credit across all claimants in Perth, I am genuinely concerned about the number of people who may find themselves in difficulty as a result of the Tories’ welfare reform plans.”
Councillor Peter Barrett, convener of housing and communities in Perth and Kinross Council, said the local authority is committed to helping tenants who are affected by the bedroom tax.
He said: “Since the introduction of the bedroom tax the council’s welfare rights and local housing teams have been proactive in raising awareness of the options available to people in Perth and Kinross who may be impacted.
“The commitment to supporting our tenants, and preventing avoidable rent arrears, is a core value of the housing teams, who work closely with welfare rights to ensure they can advise and support tenants from an early age to access any benefits or discounts they may be entitled to.
“Discretionary housing payments are one way to reduce the impact on tenants of council or housing association homes who have their housing benefit entitlement discounted because of the bedroom tax.
“For council tenants we know that there are 568 of them who are underoccupying in terms of housing benefit legislation, and would therefore be impacted by bedroom tax - of these 559 (98.4 per cent) are currently in receipt of discretionary housing payment to reduce the effect this has on their household incomes, and information and advice has been offered to the remaining tenants about the benefits of applying for discretionary housing payments.”
The city centre representative continued: “A good example of the proactive approach the council takes to supporting our tenants was to automatically continue discretionary housing payments in to this financial year for anyone who was receiving it on March 31 2018 - preventing people from having to reapply.
“If anyone is impacted by the bedroom tax I would strongly recommend that they visit the welfare rights pages on the council’s website for a comprehensive guide to what it means, and what options they may have.
“There is information and advice available, so please do make use of it.”