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Some pensioners will be affected by the 'bedroom tax'

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Sorry if this has been posted before (broadband down at home after a supposed upgrade)

As we know from April, houshold with 1 pensioner living there who is of pension credit age will be exempt from the bedroom tax even if his/her partner is younger.

However with the introduction of Universal Credit, they will only be exempt when BOTH reach pension credit age. It is estimated this will affect 90,000 pensioners.
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  • paddedjohn
    paddedjohn Posts: 7,512 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture
    Link please
    Be Alert..........Britain needs lerts.
  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    Sorry if this has been posted before (broadband down at home after a supposed upgrade)

    As we know from April, houshold with 1 pensioner living there who is of pension credit age will be exempt from the bedroom tax even if his/her partner is younger.

    However with the introduction of Universal Credit, they will only be exempt when BOTH reach pension credit age. It is estimated this will affect 90,000 pensioners.

    I have not understood at all about bedroom tax. I wish someone would explain it to me in words of one syllable. I caught the tail-end of a heated discussion about this on the radio this morning, and I still don't understand it.

    We don't qualify for pension credit and are owner-occupiers. I suppose we don't need 2 bedrooms, but the second bedroom is where we have our desks and our computers. Are we meant to be paying tax on this room because we don't use it for sleeping?
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • pmlindyloo
    pmlindyloo Posts: 13,093 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Sorry if this has been posted before (broadband down at home after a supposed upgrade)

    As we know from April, houshold with 1 pensioner living there who is of pension credit age will be exempt from the bedroom tax even if his/her partner is younger.

    However with the introduction of Universal Credit, they will only be exempt when BOTH reach pension credit age. It is estimated this will affect 90,000 pensioners.

    This is a bit muddled :)

    Under Universal Credit both people have to be over Pension State Age to get HB but where one is already in receipt of Guarantee Pension Credit then they won't be affected.

    http://www.housing.org.uk/policy/welfare_reform/bedroom_tax.aspx
  • evenasus
    evenasus Posts: 11,866 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    It's not a bedroom tax.

    It's a reduction in benefits.
  • evenasus
    evenasus Posts: 11,866 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper
    We don't qualify for pension credit and are owner-occupiers. I suppose we don't need 2 bedrooms, but the second bedroom is where we have our desks and our computers. Are we meant to be paying tax on this room because we don't use it for sleeping?

    I believe it affects people who claim benefits.

    There are only two of us in our four bedroom house but as we are owner occupiers and claim no benefits - it doesn't affect us.
  • WestonDave
    WestonDave Posts: 5,154 Forumite
    Rampant Recycler
    @margeretclare - it only applies to council/social housing tenants who don't get housing benefit assessed the same way as private tenants. Private tenants are allocated an allowance based on the number of rooms they need, and the going rate for a property of that size in the area - so a couple with no kids would get the one bedroom rate - they can choose to live in a two bedroom property but if it costs more than the deemed one bed rate, they have to find the extra. Council tenants (on full benefits) get their rent paid in full directly, but there are cases where someone has been allocated a property with more bedrooms than they'd need (e.g. a couple who had kids but they've left home) and so to even things up, they will have to pay for the additional room that they don't "need".

    It has no effect on owner occupiers.
    Adventure before Dementia!
  • C_Mababejive
    C_Mababejive Posts: 11,668 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Its very simple. The state has decided that it is no longer prepared to fund under occupancy of properties upon which they contribute to in the form of housing benefit.

    I am surprised it has taken them so long to catch on.

    I dont know how Phil and Liz will manage in a one bedroomed flat. They may have to decamp to Sandringham.

    There are plenty of under occupied "council" properties up and down the land where families have grown up and left home. I know of a single adult now of pensionable age who is occupying a three bedroomed home.


    I do worry though that in certain cases,it may encourage baby breeders to open their legs to fill the empty rooms rather than be forced to suffer a reduction/downsize.

    The other thing the authorities need to look at is the Giro drop generation. This is prevalent especially in flats whereby someone takes the tenancy of a flat but lives elsewhere,often with their girlfriend. They do it to retain their independence/ensure benefits etc and the flat is largely unoccupied.
    Feudal Britain needs land reform. 70% of the land is "owned" by 1 % of the population and at least 50% is unregistered (inherited by landed gentry). Thats why your slave box costs so much..
  • margaretclare
    margaretclare Posts: 10,789 Forumite
    Thanks very much for the clear and unambiguous explanation.

    So in fact it's not a 'tax' at all. I detest these kinds of emotive misrepresentations. Why not say - it's not a tax, it's a reduction in benefits. It's just rabble-rousing.
    [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]Æ[/FONT]r ic wisdom funde, [FONT=Times New Roman, serif]æ[/FONT]r wear[FONT=Times New Roman, serif]ð[/FONT] ic eald.
    Before I found wisdom, I became old.
  • I have not understood at all about bedroom tax. I wish someone would explain it to me in words of one syllable. I caught the tail-end of a heated discussion about this on the radio this morning, and I still don't understand it.

    We don't qualify for pension credit and are owner-occupiers. I suppose we don't need 2 bedrooms, but the second bedroom is where we have our desks and our computers. Are we meant to be paying tax on this room because we don't use it for sleeping?

    This doesn't help a great deal at the moment, but I am going for some Universal Credit training today, so I'll report back if I find out anything useful.
  • mazza111
    mazza111 Posts: 6,327 Forumite

    There are plenty of under occupied "council" properties up and down the land where families have grown up and left home. I know of a single adult now of pensionable age who is occupying a three bedroomed home.

    It won't affect people like this. It will only be people of working age from my reading of it
    4 Stones and 0 pounds or 25.4kg lighter :j
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