The benefit changes, introduced in April aimed at reducing the benefit bill mean that tenants with one spare bedroom have lost 14% of their housing benefit, or £14 a week on average for someone in a council house. Those in housing association accommodation have lost an average of £16 a week.
Anyone with two or more spare bedrooms will have lost 25% of their housing benefit.
According to the National Housing Federation 25% of tenants affected by the spare room subsidy has gone into arrears for the first time. Clearly this will have a big impact on landlords letting to tenants on benefits. Is this affecting you? Post your views and comments below.
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This does not affect private landlords, as HB tenants in private housing only get HB for the number of bedrooms their household are entitled to anyway, i.e. if they have a spare bedroom they do not get HB for it. The so called bedroom tax is simply starting to align the HB rules for those in (already subsidised) social housing, to the HB rules for those in private rented housing. The low rents charged in social housing are due to the government subsidies (tax-payer money) that is given to councils and most housing associations, and the far more generous HB rules for social housing tenants was effectively a second subsidy for housing associations, when private landlords do not get either!
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