Bedroom tax

rdf:langString Bedroom tax

rdf:langString The under-occupancy penalty (also known as the under occupation penalty, under-occupancy charge, under-occupation charge or size criteria) results from a provision of the British Welfare Reform Act 2012 whereby tenants living in public housing (also called council or social housing) with rooms deemed "spare" face a reduction in Housing Benefit, resulting in them being obliged to fund this reduction from their incomes or to face rent arrears and potential eviction by their landlord (be that the local authority or a housing association). The under-occupancy penalty is more commonly referred to as the Bedroom Tax; especially by critics of the changes who argue that they amount to a tax because of the lack of social housing (or in some areas, any rented accommodation) for affected tenants to downsize to (and the refusal to accept the risk of taking in lodgers). In 2016 it was announced that the penalty would be extended to pensioners. Caroline Abrahams of Age UK said: "Imposing the cap on older tenants will not only cause them anxiety and distress, it is also pointless given the lack of affordable housing options available to them". It has not been applied to pensioners. Supporters of the changes have referred to the unreformed system as a "spare room subsidy" whereby tax-payers allegedly subsidised social-housing tenants living in houses larger than they needed. The stated intention of the under-occupancy penalty policy is to reduce these costs and to ease housing shortages and overcrowding. A similar policy was enacted by Labour over a decade beforehand in private-sector housing, as the Local Housing Allowance, without attracting controversy, and this policy essentially represents an equalisation of treatment of benefit claimants, regardless of whether they live in private tenancies or social housing. The reforms formed one part of the 2010–2015 Coalition Government's wide-ranging welfare-reform agenda which included the introduction of Universal Credit, the introduction of a cap on the total size of the welfare bill (see welfare cap), reform of Council Tax and reform of disability benefits (see Personal Independence Payment).