“We shouldn’t be financially supporting people to have
bigger homes than they need.”
“If those living in homes with more rooms than they need
moved somewhere smaller, then families who are over-crowded could be re-housed.”
Those statements seem entirely reasonable don’t they? In
fact, many councils and housing associations have very good schemes to help
tenants, in homes that are now larger than they need, to move somewhere
smaller. But those schemes are very different from the Bedroom Tax that
the government is now implementing.
In fact, the nature of the Bedroom Tax really tells
us everything about the real values of David Cameron and Nick Clegg. 660,000
households are going to be hit. On average, they will lose £728 a year – about
£14 a week. More than 10,000 families in Sheffield will be affected, and about
1250 in NE Derbyshire will lose out. In total, that will mean about an £8
million cut in money being spent locally.
The government says it’s targeting the skivers but the
reality is very, very different. The Bedroom Tax unfair policy will
mainly hit working households and some of the most vulnerable families.
Two thirds of the households hit are home to someone with a
disability. Families of young soldiers serving our country will be penalised
for keeping a bedroom where their son or daughter can stay when on leave.
Bizarrely, if the bedroom is being kept for a son or daughter who’s been sent
to prison, then you don’t get penalized. Foster families, who need a bedroom to
respond urgently to provide a safe home for a child in danger are also going to
be hit. As will thousands of ordinary working households of grandparents who
have a bedroom in which their grandchildren can stay.
We can talk as much as we like about the general terms and
the statistics. It’s when you see the real impact on real families that you
know it’s going to hurt and damage.
And when, at the same time, 13,000 millionaires are getting
a tax cut worth an average £100,000 a year, you know just how unfair it is.
