What is a bedroom ? and is it a tax ?

speedfreek1000

And we're off

Charity wins appeal over bedroom tax for Sheffield family

A CHARITY has secured exemption from the ‘bedroom tax’ for a Sheffield family – and say others could have success too.

The family were originally told by Sheffield Council that they would have to pay the tax because their children could share a bedroom – despite one of them being severely disabled.

The Sheffield Law Centre successfully argued the ‘tax’, which came into effect last Monday, was a breach of the family’s human rights because they were not being treated differently from non-disabled families, despite the impact of the bedroom tax being worse on them than families where children can share a room.

The verdict means the family, who declined to be named, will now not be penalised by the bedroom tax.

http://www.thestar.co.uk/news/charity-wins-appeal-over-bedroom-tax-for-sheffield-family-1-5564992

Richie-from-the-Boro

High Court consideration of 10 test claims ref the bedroom tax / new HB rules. 10 different challenges by a range of people who claim the new rules discriminate against persons who require larger accommodation for reasons relating to their disability.

Richie-from-the-Boro

In the first 100 days of the bedroom tax :

- rent arrears built up by residents affected by the bedroom tax have risen by £7,777 in 12 weeks
- an increase of 9%
- the overall number of affected tenants who have fallen behind on their rent has risen from 187 to 279
- a whopping 49%
- arrears have risen steadily since April and we expect this to continue
- only 9% of those affected by the bedroom tax have been successful in applying for discretionary housing payments
- these payments are only a stop-gap solution
- some residents can not even reapply for financial help if they cannot prove they are making savings or working more hours

- a quarter of those are disabled and have had expensive adaptations to make the home suitable
- many more have more minor adaptations
- can it really make sense to move them to a home which would need further adaptations at more cos
- and then to remove the adaptations in the home they left behind?

First 100 days of Bedroom Tax here

Brassedoff

I do wish you would stop calling it a tax, it's not. Only Lieber and their tillable supporters call it that. Had they not peed it up the wall (remember Brown's "we have put an end to boom & bust" speech), these contributions from council and social housing tenants would not be required.

What you call a "Tax" is just a levelling of the field for those who live in their own homes, yet have for a while had to make up their allowance shortfall.

Below is the left wing BBC's view (now if you want to talk about a tax, the TV licence is a tax!). They say its not a tax. They agree that the court action has spurred urgent legislative changes to help those with disabled children.

I would live views on the fairness to those who work hard to pay their Mortgage/Rent, yet according to officials quite a few people receive up to and over £100 per week! I would love a £460 per month mortgage contribution!

We come back to the same point, save the disabled children in the cases, there are a lot of people who chose unemployment (not disability) as a life style choice, if a couple recive £1600 a month nett and one with kids £2400, what incentive is there to work?

BBC Article : http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21321113

A change in housing benefit rules, introduced in April 2013, has been dubbed the "bedroom tax" by Labour and, for many, the name has stuck.

Strictly speaking, though, it is not a tax at all.

The government says it is simply removing the "spare room subsidy" which put social sector tenants in a better position than those in the private rental sector.

Ministers argue the changes will encourage people to downsize to smaller properties, and in doing so, help cut the £23bn annual bill for housing benefit, free up living space for overcrowded families, and encourage people to get jobs.

But housing charities have warned that the result will be higher levels of rent arrears and greater homelessness.

The government estimates that over half a million tenants are affected by the new rules, which took effect in April this year.

More than half of those affected have a disability causing them "significant difficulty in one or more areas of the individual's life", the Department for Work and Pensions has said.

The government predicts that savings to the taxpayer will amount to £505m in 2013-14, and £540m in the year after.

What has changed?
The new rules affect housing benefit, which is paid to less well-off tenants to help with rent. Typically claimants receive between £50 and £100 a week.

But since April 2013 families deemed to have too much living space by their local authorities receive a reduced payment. Under the government's so-called "size criteria", families are assessed for the number of bedrooms they actually need.

Who is affected?
This change affects council tenants, and those who rent from housing associations, who are housing benefit claimants. It does not affect private sector tenants who are already subject to certain rules.

The government estimates that 660,000 households will have their benefit cut, roughly a third of social sector claimants. Only those of working age will see reduced payments.

But there are some other exemptions too.

Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said the 5,000 approved foster carers in the UK would continue to receive rent payments towards an "additional room" as long as they have fostered a child or become an approved foster carer in the previous 12 months.

And families with adult children serving in the armed forces will also be exempt from the changes, even when they are on overseas deployment. They will be treated as if they were continuing to live at home.

How much have people lost?
If tenants are deemed to have one spare room, the amount of rent eligible for housing benefit will be cut by 14%. If they have two or more spare rooms, the cut will be 25%.

The government says that means an average loss of about £14 a week for council tenants. Those who rent from housing associations are facing an average loss of about £16 a week.

Tenants can downsize, but problems have arisen in some areas where there is a shortage of smaller homes. Campaigners say those affected face being forced to move long distances to find a property, or move into the private sector, where rents could be higher.

How many bedrooms are you allowed?
The new rules allow one bedroom for each adult or couple. Children under the age of 16 are expected to share, if they are the same gender, and those under 10 are expected to share whatever their gender.

Following a legal challenge, the government said severely disabled children unable to share a room would be exempt - although campaigners say there is still uncertainty about this.

Disabled tenants will be allowed a bedroom for full-time live-in or overnight carers. If a full-time carer is a husband, wife or partner, then they will be expected to share a room. However, they can apply for a discretionary housing payment from their local authority if the disability means the partner needs to sleep in another room.

Discretionary support should remain in place for "priority groups" such as disabled people whose homes have had to be significantly adapted and those with long-term medical conditions which create difficulties in sharing a bedroom.

The number of bedrooms in the property will be determined by the landlord's tenancy agreement, so you cannot claim a bedroom is actually a living room.

A group of disabled families challenged the rules in the High Court. What was their argument?
The families believe the new rules break the law by discriminating against disabled people in social housing because they fail to allow for extra space needed for individuals who cannot share a bedroom because of the nature of their disability.

They also argued that they need extra space to store their mobility equipment, such as wheelchairs.

The court ruled on 30 July 2013 that there was no discrimination, but the families plan to appeal against this.

Can I keep a spare bedroom?
Not without losing benefit. Parents who are separated are not allowed to keep a vacant bedroom for a child who visits.

Bereaved families will be given a year's exemption to rearrange their housing affairs.

What about students?
Since April, parents are not penalised if a student is away, as long as he or she sleeps at home for at least two weeks a year. But when universal credit comes in from this autumn, students will need to be at home for at least six months to avoid a benefit cut.

What about lodgers?
As of April, claimants with a paying lodger are allowed to keep the first £20 of weekly rent. But housing benefit will be then be cut, pound for pound, on the rest of the rent they receive.

After universal credit is established, housing benefit will be cut, but tenants will be allowed to keep all the rental income (although only the first £4,250 of annual rent is free of income tax).

Are pensioners exempt?
If either one of a couple is of pensionable age, their housing benefit does not get cut.

Under universal credit, both will need to be over pensionable age, or one will need to be in receipt of pension credit, in order to qualify for the maximum benefit.

What is the situation for tenants of private landlords?
Councils calculate housing benefit for private tenants using the Local Housing Allowance. This is based on typical rent prices in an area and the number of bedrooms deemed necessary for a household. The latter is worked out along broadly similar lines to those now in place for social housing tenants.

nannytone_2

everyone knows that it is a reduction in housing benefit, but is commonly known ans 'bedroom tax' in the same way that many posters refer to the shared accomodation rate of LHA as 'the shared room rate'
we all know that people arent expected to share a bedroom with a stranger!

the fact that it is known ( even by the general population and the media /// so not just those affected) makes no difference, and persisting in correcting this only leads to more confusion for those people that are less 'savvy' concerning benefits

Richie-from-the-Boro

Its a tax against the disabled, using legislative powers to make the lower social order pay a fine because they can not do what the upper [political class] social order required them to do. It directly discriminates against the disabled class in particular and the social housing and the social housing model in general on all three levels, the disabled the procedural - and the moral.

Brassed I want you to get out of bed, borrow a bicycle and pedal the 200 or so miles to my home by 2pm today - now you have five minutes to get here, so get your skates on right now. Failure to report in person by 1400hrs will result in a financial penalty being applied - its the law - I invented it - I already know you can't do what I demand of you - but I have power, you have none, and I need the money.

Its a tax !

Richie-from-the-Boro

Its a tax, and a tax against the disabled ................... lets focus down on the facts about the Brassed claims about [DHP] "discretionary support" in #65.



- GOV's own figures are a total of 660,000 bedroom tax households in the UK
- bedroom-taxing those 660,000 households will take £500mi££ion from the total

......... hang on a minute ! ...........

- two thirds of the 660,000 total are disabled households
- so £318mi££ion of the £500mi££ion is coming from the disabled

........ and then there's the [DHP] Discretionary Housing Support scam .......

- GOV camouflaged the tax by giving LA's £25mi££ion to dish out as a political sweetener
- and only this week as a result of several 'bootslappings' in the courts, gave them another [conditional] extra £35mi££ion
- that's £60mi££ion of Discretionary Housing Support for all of the individual households in all of the LA's

........ whoa there 2/3 disabled and 1/3 non-disabled .........

- if all 100% [not 66%] of the £60mi££ion was spent on the disabled
- that £60mi££ion has to cover a reduction of £318mi££ion

So get yer abacus out folks, how many disabled people will be denied DHP by their local authority to help pay this slitheringly unfair bedroom tax ? - go on have a guess ! - I'll take answers expressed in fractions or percentages.

- no one answered, only one in five disabled tenants will get DHP

nannytone_2

on top of the obvious that richie has pointed out ....

many, if not most LA's are classing DLA as income when determining who will receive DHP'

so money that is disregarded when working out entitlement to other means tested benefit ( including HB0 and meant solely for the purpose of meeting the costs of the disability (!) is fair game when it comes to denyiing the disabled DHP!

so now many can CHOOSE to keep a roof over their heads or lead any kind of meaningful existance.

Richie-from-the-Boro

Generally is down to local implementation, ie if one LA will choose to proclaim loudly and make it prominent on the web-presence. Another LA will keep it whisper quiet and hide it deep within their web-presence. Most appear to be making the award for only a 13 week period and then make you reapply. There is no set award, if you were granted £x on you first application there's no guarantee you will receive the same level of support on your next. No appeal of course but you can seek a Judicial Review, or if you are able to avail yourself of legal aid you can go that route, most LA's will allow a review - ask for a review - and do so every time a disabled household is refused.

Two thirds of people affected by the loss of HB as a result of the bedroom tax are disabled, the GOV knew that when DHPs were widely promoted by GOV as precisely to help and protect the disabled. Indeed GOV asked councils in April of this years to prioritise people with disabilities and long-term health conditions when deciding who should get emergency payments. Yet disabled people are no more likely to be given an emergency housing payment than non-disabled people, even if they live in adapted properties.

LA's are using the DLA answer as a 'filter' which is supposed to precisely fast prioritise people with disabilities / long-term health conditions as different from the megga volume of other non-disabled applications. However .............. they should not be using DLA as income, the nastie-pasty himself Steve Webb in the revised guidance issued in April reminded LA's that they may "disregard income from disability-related benefits, as they are intended to be used to help pay for the extra costs of disability, such as Motability schemes or provision of care." There we have it then, a politician telling LA's not to take DLA into account, and the other side of his mouth whispering if the LA decides the customer has an excess of income over expenditure and is therefore able to meet the rent shortfall, the may use that excess even if its your Motability money.

DHP at best is not even a temporary measure, it isn't even a short-term solution for the long term sick and disabled, it like the bedroom tax it supports is punishing disabled people.

the_devil_made_me_do_it

From my experience of the "bedroom tax" & disabled claimants, the housing benefit department seem to make it very difficult to argue that someone requires a second bedroom as an over night carer is required.

There is a lot of highly intrusive information required & there is still no garuntee that a person will receive full housing benefit.

In the area where I live, I don't know anyone has been awarded full housing benefit even though they have submitted all the information asked for. I think it is a really stressful process which many won't want to go through.

I also don't know of anyone who has won a case where one of their bedrooms is too small to be classed as a bedroom.