Blind people targeted by the hated Tory measures will have to abandon their friends and neighbours
Allstar
At least 17,000 blind people face being wrenched from their homes because the Government’s appalling Bedroom Tax lumps them in with scroungers, the Sunday People reports .
The stark choice for many of the most vulnerable people is to move or lose a chunk of the meagre amount of cash they live on.
Blind people targeted by hated Tory measures will have to abandon friends and neighbours.
The Royal National Institute for the Blind’s Steve Winyard said: “The Bedroom Tax could be really distressing for them.
“They could be forced to move. They will have to completely relearn how to navigate around their new home and relearn the local area they’ve moved to.
“Both things can take a long time. It could mean losing local support networks which are so vital to leading an independent life.”
Research carried out by the RNIB on behalf of the Sunday People shows the vicious impact of the Government’s new tax.
At least 420,000 disabled people are being affected by the benefits changes. An estimated 17,000 registered blind face a forced move.
The National Housing Federation’s David Orr said: “This ill-conceived policy will cause hardship and distress for hundreds of thousands of families, including the blind and other disabled people.”
Mr Winyard added: “A local authority may have spent money on rehabilitation services to a newly blind person to live in their home.
“If they are then forced to move because of the Bedroom Tax this will be wasted.”
As a child Siobhan Meade was partially sighted but she has been completely blind since she was 16 and gets about with the help of her guide dog Mac.
Now she faces being uprooted. Siobhan, 29, said: “If I had to move I’d face weeks in isolation, unable to step outside the front door because it’s too dangerous.
“It’s a long process to learn a new area. I’d have to wait for a trained guide to teach me the roads.”
Trainers plot routes from blind people’s homes to shops and bus routes.
They take people out as many times as they need to feel confident.
But funding cuts mean there is a long waiting list for trainers. It can take months to be assigned one.
Moving from her two-bedroom flat in Gorleston, Norfolk, would throw up so many problems that Siobhan feels she has no choice but to pay the Bedroom Tax.
She will lose £15.16 a week to stay in the home she was placed in two years ago because of her disability.
And she will have to pay £62.40 a year in council tax, also under benefit rules that came in last week.
Siobhan said: “That has to pay for my fuel and heating so I’ll have to make changes.”
The one-bedroom flat she was offered was no good.
“Living in a tower block is virtually impossible for a visually impaired person,” she said.
“Walking up flights of stairs where somebody could leave a pram of bicycle is dangerous.
“I was moved here especially because I have a garden space for Mac to use. I was scared to use a communal space at night. I’m independent but the Bedroom Tax threatens to take that away.”
She has lived in Gorleston since 2006. Her previous flat there had two bedrooms. The area has a shortage of one-bed properties.
Siobhan has no carer but relies on technology to get by.
“I need the space for my equipment,” she explained.
I have a braille printer and a scanner so I can read my post.
I need to store Mac’s things too. I’d feel very uncomfortable and uneasy having to move to a different place.
“It takes a long time to learn your area. It’s unfair to put somebody under that pressure.
“I’m fairly outgoing but it could ruin someone’s confidence.”
The reviled Bedroom Tax came in last week and will cost people in social housing an average of £14 for having a “spare” room. It will hit 660,000 households.
Since the Sunday People began campaigning to fight it, the Government has back-tracked by exempting foster families and members of the armed forces.
Thousands have signed our online petition and scores of MPs have put their names to a Commons motion condemning the tax.
Last week we reported how the Tory who dreamed it up – Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith – has FOUR spare bedrooms in the £2million country house where he lives rent-free.
He claimed he can “live on £53 a week” but has remained silent in the face of calls to “prove it”.
Mirror
The stark choice for many of the most vulnerable people is to move or lose a chunk of the meagre amount of cash they live on.
Blind people targeted by hated Tory measures will have to abandon friends and neighbours.
The Royal National Institute for the Blind’s Steve Winyard said: “The Bedroom Tax could be really distressing for them.
“They could be forced to move. They will have to completely relearn how to navigate around their new home and relearn the local area they’ve moved to.
“Both things can take a long time. It could mean losing local support networks which are so vital to leading an independent life.”
Research carried out by the RNIB on behalf of the Sunday People shows the vicious impact of the Government’s new tax.
At least 420,000 disabled people are being affected by the benefits changes. An estimated 17,000 registered blind face a forced move.
The National Housing Federation’s David Orr said: “This ill-conceived policy will cause hardship and distress for hundreds of thousands of families, including the blind and other disabled people.”
Mr Winyard added: “A local authority may have spent money on rehabilitation services to a newly blind person to live in their home.
“If they are then forced to move because of the Bedroom Tax this will be wasted.”
As a child Siobhan Meade was partially sighted but she has been completely blind since she was 16 and gets about with the help of her guide dog Mac.
Now she faces being uprooted. Siobhan, 29, said: “If I had to move I’d face weeks in isolation, unable to step outside the front door because it’s too dangerous.
“It’s a long process to learn a new area. I’d have to wait for a trained guide to teach me the roads.”
Trainers plot routes from blind people’s homes to shops and bus routes.
They take people out as many times as they need to feel confident.
But funding cuts mean there is a long waiting list for trainers. It can take months to be assigned one.
Moving from her two-bedroom flat in Gorleston, Norfolk, would throw up so many problems that Siobhan feels she has no choice but to pay the Bedroom Tax.
She will lose £15.16 a week to stay in the home she was placed in two years ago because of her disability.
And she will have to pay £62.40 a year in council tax, also under benefit rules that came in last week.
Siobhan said: “That has to pay for my fuel and heating so I’ll have to make changes.”
The one-bedroom flat she was offered was no good.
“Living in a tower block is virtually impossible for a visually impaired person,” she said.
“Walking up flights of stairs where somebody could leave a pram of bicycle is dangerous.
“I was moved here especially because I have a garden space for Mac to use. I was scared to use a communal space at night. I’m independent but the Bedroom Tax threatens to take that away.”
She has lived in Gorleston since 2006. Her previous flat there had two bedrooms. The area has a shortage of one-bed properties.
Siobhan has no carer but relies on technology to get by.
“I need the space for my equipment,” she explained.
I have a braille printer and a scanner so I can read my post.
I need to store Mac’s things too. I’d feel very uncomfortable and uneasy having to move to a different place.
“It takes a long time to learn your area. It’s unfair to put somebody under that pressure.
“I’m fairly outgoing but it could ruin someone’s confidence.”
The reviled Bedroom Tax came in last week and will cost people in social housing an average of £14 for having a “spare” room. It will hit 660,000 households.
Since the Sunday People began campaigning to fight it, the Government has back-tracked by exempting foster families and members of the armed forces.
Thousands have signed our online petition and scores of MPs have put their names to a Commons motion condemning the tax.
Last week we reported how the Tory who dreamed it up – Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith – has FOUR spare bedrooms in the £2million country house where he lives rent-free.
He claimed he can “live on £53 a week” but has remained silent in the face of calls to “prove it”.
Mirror
