Housing Benefit / Council Tax Benefit - Bed room tax?

BigAunty

The so called Bedroom tax only applies to certain social housing tenants with unoccupied rooms who claim housing benefit.

Private sector tenants have never got HB for extra unoccupied rooms, they've only ever received it based on their household needs, they've always had to pay to top-up their rent if they live in a property more expensive than their allowance.

Homeowners can ignore this - homeowners can't get housing benefit anyway and can live in any size place that they like.

For the future council tax changes, look at your local council website. This affects councils in England only. Each English council have certain mandatory discounts that they can't change and have a degree of discretion in how they are going to apply it, therefore each council may have different discount policies.

The council will also publish a hierarchy of liability for council tax. Typically, it is the occupant who is responsible if the owner doesn't live there. There are some exceptions but it is a very clear way of defining the person who must pay the council tax. Find the hierarchy of liability.

nannytone_2

to say they never got benefit for unoccupied rooms is not entirely right.
if they found a rental within their LHA rate, regardless of room numbers, then the rent is paid in full.

also up until last year they could also keep £15 of any excess if their rent was lower than the LHA rate.

in my area. 1 bed places are so scarce, that the rents are on a par with the 2 bed rates.

this has only accured since the introduction of the decrease in housing benefit was revealed.

so even if i was willing to sacrifice my security and move to a 1 bed private let....
the top up in rent i would need to pay is about the same as i will lose in housing benefit.

there are plenty of disabled people such as myself, that have no choice at all. we just have to pay up and cut costs ob other essentials ( not all disabled people attract the high rates of benefit)[/B]

vodkawitch1

There is an assumtion that in social housing people can easily move to a small home and this just isn`t the case.

rupert_bear_3

Yet again the poorest are being hit. Either pay the extra tax for having a spare room or move to a smaller house. Yes great that costs money too. Why do us people always get hit the hardest. Its about time the housing associations sorted out their rents. I have a two bed house and would like to move to a 3 bed as have 2 teenage daughters. Lots of folk want to move from a 3 to a 2 bed house but my rent is in some cases £50 more than some 3 and 4 bedroom houses, so single people or couples with/without kids who are working are not going to swap to a smaller house for more rent. Bloody stupid system!!!!:

danielanthony

But it isn't a tax though. The government is trying to get those who are greedy having more bedrooms in their council houses then they need moving to smaller properties so those in overcrowded accommodation can be given more space.

seven-day-weekend

danielanthony wrote: »

But it isn't a tax though. The government is trying to get those who are greedy having more bedrooms in their council houses then they need moving to smaller properties so those in overcrowded accommodation can be given more space.

Although that may actually be an effect of the policy, the main reason for it is so that Housing Benefit is not paid for spare rooms.

Another option to downsizing or paying the extra yourself is to have a lodger, that way you not only get rid of your spare room, you have an income too and may not need any Housing Benefit at all.

And I have put my suggestion where my mouth is, because my husband and I have had lodgers on and off throughout our forty-one years of marriage to help pay the mortgage and other expenses. So I'm not suggesting anything I have not done myself.

nannytone_2

you keep repeating the lodger suggestion, and for some it is an option.

but as a single, disabled woman, i dont really think it would be a viable option.

on paper it seems like a good idea to free up homes for families, but the powers that be know exactly what housing stock is available, and it would have been glaringly obvious that there was a dire lack of 1 bed properties.

thats when the scheme would have looked even more positive, with the thought of all the extra money coming in!

as i've said previously, renting privately isn't an option for many, as the insecurity of tenure would leave many very vulnerable people having to fend for themselves when their day to day circumstances are already difficult enough

seven-day-weekend

nannytone wrote: »

you keep repeating the lodger suggestion, and for some it is an option.

but as a single, disabled woman, i dont really think it would be a viable option.

on paper it seems like a good idea to free up homes for families, but the powers that be know exactly what housing stock is available, and it would have been glaringly obvious that there was a dire lack of 1 bed properties.

thats when the scheme would have looked even more positive, with the thought of all the extra money coming in!

as i've said previously, renting privately isn't an option for many, as the insecurity of tenure would leave many very vulnerable people having to fend for themselves when their day to day circumstances are already difficult enough

I do understand your predicament nannytone, and of course the lodger option is not suitable for everybody. I suggested it however, and will keep suggesting it, because those for whom it might be an option don't always think of it and I happen to think it is a viable solution in many cases.

I hope you yourself are able to find and answer to your housing problem soon.

nannytone_2

unless the council/housing associations start building 1 bed places, there is no answer to many peoples problems.

just last week, the council here offered a 3 bedroomed property to a friends daughter and her partner ... both on benefits.

so not only are they not helping to solve the current problem, they are compounding it!

Gaz1971

And when you try and downsize you are told they have very few 1 bed properties and you will never get one if you go on the register, I know, Ive tried.