Sunday, February 24, 2013

UK gov. enacts 'bedroom tax' forcing 660,000 people to move and stop 'hoarding housing' so larger families can move into the space or pay tax

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2/23/13, "'Bedroom Tax' To Hit Thousands Of Families," Sky News UK

"Thousands of families living in social housing are facing a cut in their benefits from April because they are seen to have too big a home.

The under-occupation penalty, dubbed "the bedroom tax", aims to encourage households to downsize if they have spare rooms, freeing up their properties for larger families.

But council house tenant Eddie Bird says the policy fails to take into consideration individual cases. His wife Shirley has terminal cancer, and weighing just five-and-a-half stone, needs her own room.

"Any form of movement on the bed and it affects my wife. She's in constant back pain," said Mr Bird. "There's no room for separate beds so I sleep in the box room."

They have been told they will lose nearly £14 a week in benefits.

"It's going to affect my wife's quality of life. We have a Motability car but if we can't afford to put petrol in it, we can't go on any day trips."

The Government hopes the policy will make better use of almost a million rooms that are not used and help reduce the £23bn housing benefit bill.

Communities Secretary Eric Pickles said: "We've put a fairly sizeable sum aside to be able to ensure that those kind of cases can be paid for. "But the general idea that there has to be a limit on the amount of benefit that people receive I think is a correct one.

"And these are exactly the same kind of rules that have existed in the last few years in private rented (accommodation), so we are applying to public housing.

"If it was good enough for private renting, it's got to be good enough for public housing."

But critics question how you can penalise tenants for not moving somewhere smaller when there simply are not enough suitable sized properties available.

It is something the Coast and Country Housing Association has seen in South Teesside. They have 10,000 properties but only two one-bedroom apartments available.

Chief executive Iain Sim said: "We had the pasty tax last year - this is the nasty tax. This is hitting people directly who through no fault of their own are under-occupying the property that they live in.

"The cut in their benefit will range from 14% for one room up to 25% for two rooms. That's a loss in income of between £10 and £22 a week. That's a lot of money to take from people with very limited incomes."

The change is expected to affect 660,000 claimants.
Some households will be exempt if, for example, a non-resident carer for a disabled person helps at the home overnight.

But as Eddie and Shirley Bird are married they will not be eligible for this exemption. Their only hope is that they will qualify for financial assistance from a fund called the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme, but it is not guaranteed."

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Seniors 'hoarding housing' that young people could use, UK group says raise taxes on people who won't move out of their house: "a proper land tax, to reflect the social cost of occupying housing, particularly housing that is larger than one's needs".

10/18/11, "Charity calls for help freeing up family homes," BBC

"Older people should be encouraged to move into smaller homes to help tackle the "housing crisis", a charity says.


The Intergenerational Foundation calls for tax breaks to encourage downsizing and help free up some of the estimated 25 million unused bedrooms in England.

More than half of over-65s are in homes with two or more spare bedrooms, which could be used by families, says its report based on government figures.

Ministers said they did not believe in "bullying" people out of their homes.

The foundation (IF) is a new group set up to campaign on financial issues, particularly those affecting younger people, such as affordable housing
  • and job prospects.
It says that while many people are living longer and staying in what was once their family home, younger families are being squeezed into smaller properties.

"The 'housing crisis' is increasingly an issue of how our housing stock is shared between younger and older generations," said IF co-founder Angus Hanton.

"The divide between the housing 'haves' and 'have nots' has moved from being one dominated by wealth or class to one
  • dominated by age."
The report, entitled Hoarding of Housing, said that 37% of homes in England - about eight million - were under-occupied - meaning they had at least two unused bedrooms. This is up from 20% four decades ago....

"It is perfectly understandable that retired people cling to their home long after it has outlived its usefulness as a place to bring up a family in," said report co-author Matthew Griffiths.

"But there are profound social consequences of their actions which are now causing real problems in a country where new house-building is almost non-existent."

IF suggested encouraging older people to downsize by exempting over-60s from stamp duty when they sold to move to a smaller home.

The campaign group also urged the government to consider replacing council tax with "a proper land tax, to reflect the social cost of occupying housing, particularly housing that is larger than one's needs".

Housing Minister Grant Shapps said: "Whilst this report makes interesting reading, we do not agree that people should be taxed or bullied out of their homes. 

"Instead we will work with families to ensure that housing becomes more affordable over time."

He pointed out that £13m was being provided to councils to make it easier for tenants to move from larger to smaller homes. "...

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UN and Europe promote legal means to expedite "intergenerational justice" by transfer of living space, environmental resources, and voice in government from seniors to young people. "Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations," FRFG, linked on the IF site:

"On 17th of May, 2011, the European Commission awarded FRFG a certificate for an outstanding project:...

  • "Ways to Legally Implement Intergenerational Justice" in Lisbon, Portugal."
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UN gives "Special consultative status" to "intergenerational justice group:

"Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations," page 30


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10/17/11, "What the Occupy protests tell us about the limits of democracy," Washington Post, Anne Applebaum, opinion

"Democracy works only within distinct borders and among people who feel themselves to be part of the same nation. A global community” cannot be a national democracy."...
via Hot Air

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