Nine stories that expose the utter idiocy that is the bedroom tax indy100 indy100 Indy100 logoNewsletter sign upRegister/Sign inTop 100NewsViralPoliticsCelebritiesScience & TechVideoWishlistWishlistBooksFashion & BeautyFood & DrinkHome & GardenKidsSports & FitnessTechTravel & OutdoorsMoreScience & techVideoConversationsSportIdentitiesLifestyleShowbizTVSearchxNews

Nine stories that expose the utter idiocy that is the bedroom tax

Dina RickmanSep 08, 2014 The bedroom tax, otherwise known as the spare room subsidy, is one of the government's most controversial and unpopular policies, and has been repeatedly highlighted by Scottish nationalists as a reason for independence from Westminster. For good reason. It places a levy on a person's housing benefit bill if they are deemed to have a "spare" bedroom. The government say this will help free up council homes which are being under-occupied, but the BBC reported a year on from the introduction of the tax only six per cent of tenants affected had moved. Separately, the National Housing Federation said earlier this year that two-thirds of households affected by the policy have fallen into rent arrears. As a private members' bill to modify some of its especially pernicious effect moves through parliament, here are nine stories about some very different families and individuals in very different circumstances who have all been adversly affected by the tax. A woman in a Catch 22 situation found a smaller flat suitable for swapping with her current property, but she could not move until she had paid off the arrears she had built up as a result of the bedroom tax. Source: Rachel ReevesKeep reading...Show less

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