A blind couple from Blackwood could be forced to move out of their family home of 26 years because of the incoming “Bedroom Tax”.
Caerphilly MP Wayne David made the claim during Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday.
From April 1 2013, changes to housing benefit by the UK Government will mean that working-age recipients could face a cut of 14% to their payments for one spare bedroom, and a 25% cut for two spare bedrooms or more.
More than 15,000 people in Caerphilly County Borough are in receipt of housing benefit.
Critics have labelled the cut a “Bedroom Tax”.
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr David asked the Prime Minister what justification there could be for Mr and Mrs Goodwin, who are both registered blind, to have to pay the “tax”.
Mr and Mrs Goodwin, who have lived in their council house in Blackwood for 26 years, rely on their guide dogs, their family and their neighbours for support. However, under the Tory-led Government’s plans Mr and Mrs Goodwin will be penalised.
After Prime Minister’s Questions, Mr David said, “The Prime Minister today could not justify why his Government is saying to Mr and Mrs Goodwin that from April they will have to pay the Bedroom Tax or face leaving their home of 26 years. The example of Mr and Mrs Goodwin shows how the Government’s plans are unfair and how they will hit some of the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.
“Earlier this week Caerphilly Labour launched a petition against the Bedroom Tax and over the next few weeks party members will be out knocking on doors across the Caerphilly Borough. I am sure that there will be mass support for our campaign.”
Mr and Mrs Goodwin live in the Islwyn constituency and their MP Chris Evans, said: “These changes are going to cause misery for thousands of households in Islwyn; some 70% of council tenants in Crumlin are going to be victims of the Bedroom Tax, while in Newbridge 60% of tenants will be affected.
“The Bedroom Tax is going to have a serious impact on some of the most vulnerable people living in our communities.
“Thousands of disabled people, like the Goodwins, may be kicked out of their homes for smaller houses and flats which may not have the necessary adaptations to accommodate their disability.”
As the bedroom tax is largely about subjecting the non-working poor to increased hardship in order to appease the low paid, then I'm not sure what good a petition will do. Labour are already in power in the W.A.G. so unless it is an exercise in being seen to be doing something, they would probably do better to advise what action they intend to take. As Plaid seem to have taken the lead on such issues.
The Welfare Reforms being forced upon the people of Caerphilly borough and beyond will cause great hardship to hundreds of thousands of the countries poorest citizens. I watched Wayne David MP ask David Cameron about the serious case above and as usual the Prime Minister didn't have anything to say in reply. It's ironic that when these changes come about in April, they will coincide with the reduction of the 50p top rate of income tax. The recipients of this tax deduction will be the richest but the loosers from this benefit cut will be the poorest.
Over the next few weeks' the Caerphilly Labour Party will be out knocking doors, gathering signatures against the Bedroom Tax. We will be starting in the Penyrheol ward which numerically has the highest number of affected properties in the entire Caerphilly borough on Saturday 2nd March.
You can register your support by 'liking' our facebook page http://www.facebook.com/CaerphillyAgainstTheBedro…
It has been suggest by opposition members in the Assembly, that the Labour Welsh Assembly find ways of being ` imaginative` in the application regulations of this Tory Lib Dem Tax on the poor.
Does anyone know if they have been yet?????
The problem the Tories will face is that their solution to the dilemma of allocation of rented housing for the poorest is ill conceived and will prove to be unworkable, because of case studies such as the one raised in the Commons by Wayne David.
As a practising energy assessor for the last five years I have knowledge of many properties that remain empty for years as there is no pressure put on the owners to make them available. There is at least one property in the Caerffili town centre that has been empty for at least ten years and a study last year indicated that there are 26,000 properties in Wales that have been unoccupied for a year or more.
A possible solution would be for the Welsh Assembly to levy a hefty tax on owners that do not offer their empty property for sale or rental after a period of one year.
The first rule of resource management is to fully utilise what you already have. Unfortunately the 'housing shortage' is used by powerful lobby groups, such as the building industry, as a reason for building yet more houses on green areas; to the detriment of the quality of life of all of us.
Whatever is done, or not done, by the politicians in charge I predict that the so called 'bedroom tax' will be damaging to the coalition government and will be scrapped as unworkable.
I disagree with Richard that this `TAX` will prove to be unworkable.
He is correct that it will prove damaging to the inane, chinless, Bullingham boy Tory party, but only because it is a charge on those living in Social Housing accommodation, and will be directly unpopular in those communities. It will only become universally unpopular and prove to be unworkable when the people not directly effected realise that there will be evictions for failure to pay the charges, and those families will be entitled to be provided with alternative accommodation, mostly in Bed and Breakfast, paid for by the ratepayers, How on earth does that work? how is that meant to balance the issues between private and public sector levels of housing benefits.?
This is a created catastrophe which WILL happen.
There is some merit in the case that some individuals do under occupy social housing provisions, but to expect those who are effected to move to more suitable accommodation, provided by the council or Housing Association, is not possible, therefore they will be forced to pay this charge into the social landlords coffers.
I hold the view that those social landlords who cannot provide more suitable accommodation for those effected, should wave the charge on those people who have agreed to move providing the landlord can accommodate them in small houses or flats, and, until they able to do so.
The changing of the rules half way through the game is odious and clearly designed to fleece the less well of population, another example of we`re all in this together, thankfully I am unaffected as I am fortunately enough to live in my own property, but as a ratepayer I am effected by the possible increases and demands which this scheme will place on the public purse.