Bedroom tax to hit hundreds

The under-occupation penalty, dubbed the ‘bedroom tax’, aims to encourage people to downsize if they have spare rooms, freeing up their properties for larger families.

From April, households with one extra bedroom will have a 14 per cent reduction in housing benefit and those with two or more spare rooms will receive a 25 per cent cut.

In the Dales,this equates to a weekly benefit reduction of £22 for 99 households and £12 for 341 households.

Jaque Allen, executive director of Dales Housing, the largest provider of social housing in the Dales, said: “These changes will hit people hard and many will have to make big changes to their lifestyles.

“We will do everything we can for our tenants, but they are responsible for their rent and they have to pay it.”

All claimants deemed to have a spare bedroom will be affected by the changes.

This includes: couples using a ‘spare’ bedroom when recovering from an illness or operation; foster carers; families with disabled children; parents whose children visit; disabled people living in adapted or specially designed properties; seperated parents who share childcare and have an extra room to reflect this.