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bedroom tax e petition

allybob profile image
28 Replies

please sign this petition if you don't agree with the bedroom tax , i recently did what i thought was the right thing and down sized, only to discover six months later that i would have to pay for my one spare room. i gave up a three bedroomed large family house as i felt that a family could make better use of it instead of me rambling around on my own.

when we receive paperwork from the DWP with a new claim extra on the second page it says "what the law says we have to live on " so why then do we then find that we then have to pay bedroom tax out of this money as well as our gas electric water food and any other expenses, if this law is just left to come in below the radar there will be more people who will be living in poverty.

i recently got a letter that also said that the council tax was changing and i would have to pay money for that to. SIGN THE PETITION if you to will be affected or you know someone who will be.

submissions.epetitions.dire...

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allybob profile image
allybob
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28 Replies
Speedqueen9 profile image
Speedqueen9

Very willing to sign this. I have a so so called "spare room" but it is seldom empty. My brother, My son, my grandchildren, Father and even my mother in law make sure this room is used regularly. My father suffers ill health and can often be with us for weeks at a time, mum in law was here for a week recently after having an op on her hand. My son lives in York and I live in wiltshire why should I not be allowed a room for him when he visits? This is a totally unfair tax as the people who have families are being penalised. The cases that need to be looked into are the ones who are totally abusing the system. There are many cases of elderly people in 3 or even 4 bedroom homes who can not get upstairs and live on the ground floor only, however, because of their age they will not be hit by the bedroom tax. This is very unfair and this law needs to be abolished before it starts.

glassbutterfly profile image
glassbutterfly

signed it gladly! How long before they bring back the window tax?

in reply to glassbutterfly

Window tax.... Had forgotten about that one...have just texted OH to come home from work and demolish the conservatory

Bella2012 profile image
Bella2012

Bedroom tax???? Where is this and have I missed something??

susie59 profile image
susie59 in reply to Bella2012

i hope you are joking!

i have had the letter about council tax benefit being changed that's an extra £250 a year for us....

Vgx

anbuma profile image
anbuma

I agree with you it s totally unfair and discriminating the genuine people.when bedroom tax was announced people in 3 bedroom houses who have a spare room even though they have family and relatives staying with them are being advised they downsize.when last year a single woman WAS GIVEN a 3 bedroomed house although there was only her.

signed the petition.

circuitrunner profile image
circuitrunner

Catch 22 for sure there are many elderly parents that sooner or later will move into their caring daughter or son - Rather than put them into a home [especially the homes that the parent has not enough income to provide for a NICER PLACE] If this occurs and the siblings have downsized what happens then. Can understasnd if it is a 3/4 bedroom house. Surely the government are making a rod for their own backs as there will be no place to put the elderly. There should be an exception that the tenant shiould be allowed one extras bedroom without tax. Oh heck I am babbling just hope I have written this clearly to understand.

shields profile image
shields

I also find that the local Council have just finished my wheelchair adaptions in November & as my wife is my carer she is not permitted her own bed (as most disabled have erratic sleep patterns (especially Fibro sufferers) when is our other half supposed to get the rest they need for them self let alone look after us disabled) The council now say that we have 2 bedrooms to many & have an increase in tax, however when asked do they have any 2 bedroom or 1 bedroom disabled bungalows its NO so is this not double insults. This is crazy not only do we get all the other insults from ESA DWP etc now we have the bedroom tax .

WE SHOULD ALL SIGN THIS PETITION .

Keith

mason profile image
mason in reply to shields

hi i am so sorry for what this dam govenment are doing to you its totally unfair .your wife needs her sleep to be able to care for you .its a pitty you are not getting state pension as they are not affected by the bedroom tax take care ,

lynnecw profile image
lynnecw

I have signed the petition although at present it does not affect me as I work full time and pay my full rent. I think it would be better to give people a financial incentive to downsize to encourage people to move rather than force the issue.

ladymoth profile image
ladymoth

Have signed the petition against this iniquitous tax! i wonder if Her Majesty has to pay it too? She has quite a lot of spare bedrooms, I believe!

ArctoLindy profile image
ArctoLindy

I've signed too, this doesn't affect me yet as I have a mortgage, but I'm sure they'll figure out a way to penalise me and all those in my position, sooner or later, but this does affect a number of my friends and they're going to find this really hard, especially as we're all being hit by the council tax benefit reduction too!

Did the person who thought this up figure out where all these suitable and available smaller properties are? A lot of people are going to be trapped where they are whether they like it or not because they can't find anything else!

Sammicat15 profile image
Sammicat15

If the govt brings back a window tax, then I'm boarding ours up and becoming a trogladyte!!!

ladymoth profile image
ladymoth

That'll do you no good, Sammi - the Government are just implementing a troglodyte tax! There's also a tax for people who choose NOT to be troglodytes, plus another tax for those who haven't decided yet.

Maybe we should have a revolution?

Midori profile image
Midori

I'm up for that, Moffy!

Cheers, Midori

mason profile image
mason

we are in a 2 bed house but we rearly need a 3 bed as i have fibromyalgia asthma osteoporosis and painfull neuropathy that is severe nerve damage to my feet its agony to try to walk .my husband is my carer .and our 18 year old son has testicular cancer that has spread to his stomach and throat ,he has to keep having operations .my sleep is very eratic and my husband was told to sleep on the sofa he cant get his rest .they are heartless .where is the petition cant find it ,

munchkin62 profile image
munchkin62

i have had my letter back after housing officer had been round and filled in the form i have a 3 bed flat but one room is used by my grandsons its even decorated with thomas tank it will also be my sons room when he gets out of prison i told her that,and the other room is for when i need a carer to stay normaly 1 of my daughterslast time both came to stay as i was very ill,but ive been told i only qaulify for 2 beds and have to pay for the third its sickaning the council are already taking £25 a week from me for my support worker that i was told i had to have due to my meantel health they worked that out by taking 75% of my disposible income leaving me around £6 a week so how the hell am i meant to pay this extra money ive been on the council waiting list for 2 yrs but they dont have enough propertys available and that are suitable for me as i am physycaly disabled really makes me feel whats the point in going on having to deal with the pain,exhustion,not being able to go out,sleep problems etc etc is enough on its own without all this extra worry i walk a very thin line as itis with my mentel state i think this just might be the push to end it.

security profile image
security in reply to munchkin62

munchkin62, You really need to talk to someone about your situation, Talk to the CAB, your Gp or if you have a social worker. You need support with your disabillity, Prehapes ask your daughter if she would become your full time carer and she would be able to claim carer allowance too.

Try and be strong and don't let them grind you down, take care of yourself xx

Bella_Baby profile image
Bella_Baby in reply to munchkin62

ohh nooo.. . :( It's just not right. I really feel for you munchkin xox

Please do talk to someone else about your situation... and hopefully you will get the help you so desperately need. I agree with 'security'. It sounds like you could have a full time carer. I send you lovelight and pray for the extra energy you need to follow through with what is necessary for you to be more taken care of.

I live in Australia, and everyone I have spoken to about this 'bedroom tax' here is disgusted. Another way to stand on the already struggling people in your country.

Big Hugs XOXOXOXOX

mistymeana profile image
mistymeana

Signed it. Can't say more as I'm not allowed to swear.

Bella_Baby profile image
Bella_Baby

I wish I could sign this petition... but am unable as I'm in Australia.

But, there was another one like this one that I saw from a friend on facebook, and I have signed and shared that one.

Know that here in Australia.. we are totally disgusted with what your government is doing there with all those inappropriate taxes. Bedroom tax... omg.. just ridiculous and cruel.

sylviajones profile image
sylviajones

i have 2 bed house and have been told i can either down size or pay the tax, is the goverment going to pay this tax as well..i go with out meals 3 days a week now because the dss have cut my money down, i don,t know how i am going to manage now. i am trying to sell all my household things and this extra stress is not doing me any good. and if this goverment keeps up with this tax i will take them to court and ask why if they say we have so much to live on,how am i sopposed to live and eat properly. i use my bedroom for a carer namely my son to stay and he does my cokking,washing,ans changes my bed and cleans mu house

ellie172825 profile image
ellie172825

100,000 Scots could cash in on bedroom tax loophole

February 16, 2013 admin Blog

Source:

A LOOPHOLE in the law gives up to 100,000 Scots the chance to sidestep deep cuts to their housing benefit, consumer advice groups claim.

The so-called bedroom tax, which penalises tenants with spare rooms in social housing, would lead to a rise in people getting into debt and, ultimately, evictions, campaigners have warned.

But now advice agencies say tenants might be able to get around the tax because the law is unclear about what is classed as a bedroom.

They claim if tenants simply ensure spare rooms are not used as bedrooms, local authorities and housing associations can be challenged over any cuts in payments for housing benefit purposes.

The Glasgow Advice Agency (GAA) – a consortium of consumer assistance bodies – obtained the opinion from Jonathan Mitchell, QC, who said that, while it was for a local authority to decide what was a bedroom, there was no legal definition.

The only guidance uncovered was in the Rent Officer Handbook produced by HM Revenue & Customs, which “makes the important point that actual use by an actual household is usually critical”.

Mr Mitchell said it would be “going wrong in law” if a local authority determined every room that could possibly be slept in was classified as a bedroom, whatever its characteristics or use.

He added: “It may be that tenants should be advised that the particular use they make of rooms may have consequences for their benefit.

“If, for example, a family with a disabled child allows him or her to use the living room as a bedroom, this may result in the property being determined to have one more bedroom than before, just as turning a bedroom into a therapy or care room, or a study or playroom, may result in a reduction in the number of bedrooms determined.”

Part of a raft of welfare reforms taking effect from April, the bedroom tax was designed to cut £500 million off the £21 billion bill for housing benefit. In Scotland, it is expected to save £50m from an annual housing benefit bill of £1.7bn.

Working-age tenants in housing association or council homes will lose 14% of their housing benefit entitlement if they have one spare bedroom, and 25% if they have two or more spare.

Yesterday, a leading Nationalist MSP indicated the SNP would scrap the UK Government’s controversial cut if Scotland became independent.

Mike Dailly of GAA, who is also a member of the Secretary of State for Scotland’s Poverty Advisory Group, said tenants could mount a legal challenge against attempts to impose the bedroom tax if rooms were not being used as bedrooms. He added: “This is good news. This has thrown a lifeline to many of the Scots who are affected by this.

“GAA believes it is possible for tenants to change the use of what might be regarded as a spare bedroom into something that need not be counted as a bedroom, and therefore not be subject to the 14% cut in housing benefit.

“This is of major application for disabled tenants, who may use a ‘spare bedroom’ for the purpose of therapy, storing wheelchairs, medical equipment or to undertake medical procedures. Other tenants may be able to avoid the bedroom tax too.

“We are calling for the Scottish Government to produce its guidance for local authorities, which could give us a bit of consistency.”

The “under-occupation” rules were expected to affect foster carers with rooms spare between placements, disabled people who sometimes need a carer to stay overnight, separated parents who use a spare room for child access, and the homes of soldiers on tours of duty.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) said up to 20% of Scotland’s 315,000 council tenants would be hit, and that 40% of them would get into rent arrears – leaving councils with a £20m-a-year shortfall, as well as the extra cost of enforcing debts and evictions.

A Cosla spokesman said local authorities would have to examine the legal opinion before adopting a position.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said it tailored housing benefit to the way the social landlord or local authority defined the property.

A spokeman said: “If a social landlord says it is a two-bedroomed house, regardless what happens to it subsequently, it is a two-bedroomed house and that is what housing benefit will be judged on.”

Speaking on radio yesterday, SNP MSP Clare Adamson said the proposed cut to housing benefit, based on spare bedrooms, was an “appalling piece of legislation”.

She identified the cut as one which could be reversed by a future SNP Government if Scotland became independent. However, she said not all UK Goverment welfare reforms would be abolished.

Her comments prompted claims by Scottish Labour that the SNP was trying to bribe voters to back independence while failing to use existing Holyrood powers to mitigate the impact of welfare reform.

ellie172825 profile image
ellie172825 in reply to ellie172825

I have one of my bedrooms as a dinning room, I use the dinning table to sit and prepare vegetables when I am well enough to think about making a actual meals, I also need the dinning table to eat my meals, as I could not sit in the lounge to eat meals,, and I also use the dinning table for my laptop, to communicate with my Daughter in Canada, as far as I am aware,if you can prove a bedroom is not in use as a bedroom,and it is furnished for another purpose, example " Dinning room" and as I need the dinning room to help with my illness/disability, it therefore can be exempt from bedroom taxes, I certainly will be challenging this. (((SOFT WARM HUGS)))

ellie172825 profile image
ellie172825

One - but only one way - to combat the bedroom tax

One – but only one – of the challenges to the bedroom tax is the minimum size of your smallest bedroom.

Many of the smallest rooms in social housing are less than 70 sq/ft and thus a boxroom rather than a bedroom.

A single bedroom has to be 70 sq/ft or 6.5 sq/m to be classed as a full (1.0) bedroom. If it is 9ft x 7ft then it is 63 sq/ft and just 0.9 of a bedroom.

The size standards are found in the 1985 Housing Act section 326 (and see here for an overview www3.westminster.gov.uk/doc... ) which ironically deal with overcrowding and set out the 70 sq/ft issue and also the fact that anything under 50 sq/ft (eg 7ft by 7ft) cannot be deemed as a bedroom at all.

If you have a room which is under these requirements then it cannot be classed as a bedroom and you can legally challenge any under-occupancy judgement that says it is a bedroom.

Again, this is only one way to potentially combat the bedroom tax: the State has a shitty habit of closing down any loopholes that spring-up in its face, as evidenced in a recent workfare ruling.

We argue that it's only tenant solidarity and direct action that will see the working class get the goods.

But, it is worth measuring up your smallest room to see if they are classed as a full bedroom or not.

If you want to read an accessible legal view of this try here - nearlylegal.co.uk/blog/2013...

combatbedroomtax@gmail.com

allybob profile image
allybob

thank you everyone who have left comments and signed the petition please share it with your facebook/twitter and any other social network sites you use xxxxxxxx

lynp profile image
lynp

just not been able to pay my rent for the first time in years , so unfair i work at my local school and have done for 20 years , i take all the hours they can give me so i don't sit at home .I'm 57 all my friends and family are near me i do not have a car and walk to work as i live in a village .my landlords say we can move you but only 30 miles away how does that make sense i would have to stop work and claim full benefits have no friends or family near me so instead of giving me a little bit of help they would have to pay all my rent and give me the social i don't need now . oh and its the them that pay me a low wage so i cant pay all my rent myself .i feel for everyone who now finds themselves in this situation .

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