Bedroom tax still bites in city
ALMOST 3,500 homes in Newcastle are still losing an average of £14 a week because of the bedroom tax.
While the number of city households hit by the benefit change has more than halved since it was introduced in 2013, those affected still lose an estimated £2.35m per year.
According to Newcastle City Council, the 3,461 households affected include 779 single parents with children living with them and 251 couples with children.
There are 2,001 single people affected and 430 couples who have no children.
Those deemed by the Government to have a spare bedroom in their council house have their housing benefit reduced by 14%, or 25% for two or more spare bedrooms.
Coun Joyce McCarty, deputy council leader, said: “After five years of the bedroom tax we see in Newcastle what the Government hoped would be forgotten by now – that families and individuals are still suffering in their thousands from a policy which seeks to punish people for having a council home.
“The bedroom tax, though, is one of a number of policies which hits low income or vulnerable households in Newcastle. Government welfare reforms will reduce income arising from working age benefits in Newcastle by over £129m a year by 2022.
“This Government has shown again and again that it does not care about the impact of welfare reforms, as we saw most recently with the shift to universal credit and the six-week delay for some people receiving help.”