How will Bedroom Tax affect York?

The National Housing federation has published figures showing how each parliamentary constituency will be affected by the Bedroom tax.  In York it is estimated that 1,151 households in York Central and 992 households in York Outer will be affected by the charges.  These households will pay an extra £556 per year for 1 extra bedroom and £992 per year for 2 or more bedrooms.

The figures are even more shocking for the region.  A report on ITV news shows that 80,000 people will be affected in Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire, with 50,000 of these people are disabled.

The bedroom tax takes no account of:

• Foster carers who need a room available to take children in
• Parents sharing custody of children who need a room available for their child at weekends
• Disabled people's adapted homes
• Couples who use their ‘spare’ bedroom when recovering from an illness or operation
• If a family has a member of the armed forced away on service for more than 13 weeks this will also be classed as an unoccupied room.

The government seem to suggest everyone can just do a house swap and the problem is solved, yet in reality there are just not the 1-2 bedroom houses available for people to "downsize" to.  This was demonstrated in a recent article in the Mirror which reported that there are only 50 one bedroom properties in Newcastle to downsize to, yet 7,000 will be stripped of benefits because they have unoccupied rooms.

There will be a network of 50 demonstrations against the bedroom tax across the country on March 16th.  Find your nearest one at http://www.greenbenchesuk.com/2013/03/50-bedroomtax-protests-see-details-of.html