A Labour MP's bill calling for the bedroom tax to be scrapped will get a second reading after successfully passing its first hurdle.
Wansbeck MP Ian Lavery (pictured) yesterday introduced a 10-minute bill on scrapping the controversial under-occupation penalty, which was backed by 226 votes to one.
Two thirds of households hit by the bedroom tax have fallen into rent arrears, according to new research published today.
An Ipsos MORI survey of 183 housing associations carried out for the National Housing Federation found that 66% of their residents affected by the controversial policy are struggling to pay their rent, with more than a third (38%) reported to be in debt because they were unable to pay the bedroom tax.
The coalition’s policies aimed at cutting the social security bill have so far fallen disproportionately on the youth demographic (and disabled people), despite older people receiving 47 per cent of UK welfare spending through state pensions.
Scrapping housing benefit for under-25s is one key policy announced at the Conservative party conference last year. The Conservatives seem determined to cut the benefits bill for the 1.1 million young people aged 16-24 who are out of work, despite the lack of jobs for them to go into.
Two-thirds - 66% - of social sector tenants affected by benefit cuts for those with extra bedrooms were behind with rent after six months, a National Housing Federation survey suggests.
And it said 38% were in debt because of the "unfair, unworkable" policy change - dubbed the "bedroom tax" by critics.
Changes in housing benefit payments affecting disabled people could cost the public purse millions of pounds in Wales, a housing association has said.
Wales & West Housing (WWH) said many disabled tenants may be forced to move because of the so-called "bedroom tax".
Vulnerable housing benefit claimants who might need extra support are set to be helped by an additional £165 million of funding being made available to councils.
According to the Government, this builds on the £180 million funding this year and ensures continuing financial support.
The government's stuttering universal credit system is continuing to baffle tenants, new research has revealed.
Half of those who took part in the National Landlords Association's survey said that though they are aware that UC will replace the current benefits system, they don't fully understand what it means.
Around 70,000 people are being pursued by bailiffs for council tax arrears following benefit cuts, the Labour Party has claimed.
The party has, according to the Independent newspaper, issued requests under the Freedom of Information Act to all English councils and 143 responded with figures showing 30,761 have been issued with bailiff notices. If extrapolated across England, 70,000 could be affected.
Universal credit remains largely misunderstood, according to a study conducted by online letting agent Makeurmove.co.uk.
The research reveals that one in three landlords are unaware of universal credit while 40% of landlords have heard of the new government scheme, but are unclear about the details. Just 27% of landlords say they fully understand universal credit.
Channel Four's infamous benefits Street 'documentary' has featured a squalid four-bedroom rented home that is so riddled with damp that water runs down the walls.
It has no heating because the boiler has long been broken, and the tenant's children are so frozen at night they sleep with their clothes on.