Warning sounded over housing benefit changes

Manchester City Council believes that proposed changes to housing benefit could cost Manchester residents almost £8 million a year.

If the changes come into force, the Council estimates the proposals would leave an estimated 14,000 social housing tenants in the city worse off.

The changes relate to the 'under occupation' of properties under criteria set out by the government which only allow one bedroom for each of the following:

A couple

A single adult or young person aged 16 or over

Any two children of the same sex aged under 16

Any two children of different sexes aged under 10

Any other child

A non-resident overnight carer

Manchester City Council estimates that this would mean 10,411 tenants were classed as having one spare bedroom and a further 3,607 considered to have two or more.

Based on the proposals, a family with two adults and two teenage children of the same sex, for instance, would be deemed to be 'under occupying' a three-bedroom property. The children would be expected to share a room with a third room being classed as 'spare.'

In the Bill as it currently stands, households classed as 'under occupying' a property by one bedroom would have their housing benefit reduced by 13 per cent and households classed as 'underoccupying' two or more bedrooms would have their housing benefit cut by 23 per cent.

Based on average rents for social housing, this would equate to cuts of £8-£12 a week for tenants in the first category and £14-£18 a week for those in the latter group.

If the Bill becomes law in its current form, tenants classed as 'under occupying' would be expected to make up for the shortfall in their rent or move to a smaller property.

The North West Housing Forum, which represents councils and housing providers across the region, has expressed concerns about the availability of suitable smaller properties - and in particular a shortage of one bedroom properties which have not been built in recent years due to low demand.

The House of Lords has proposed an amendment which would allow tenants to continue to claim full housing benefit if they have more than one spare room or no other suitable accommodation is available, which would substantially reduce the impact on Manchester residents.

Councillor Paul Andrews, Executive Member for Neighbourhood Services and chair of the North West Housing Forum, said: "The proposals as they stand will have a significant impact on people's lives. Many people who are already vulnerable will be placed in a worse position by being penalised for the sole reason that their home has a 'spare' bedroom.

"Manchester has a shortage of smaller properties for people to move to and tenants could be put in the position of losing benefit just because they are unable to find alternative accommodation."