Chris Burton, of Gunson Street, Miles Platting , has been
racking up debt ever since the benefits shake-up and is now more than £200 in
arrears.
He says he never wanted the ‘useless’ second
room and reckons 35 other tenants will have lost out after their homes were
upgraded in 2009.
Now he is appealing to a tribunal judge to rule
that his benefits should be based his original tenancy agreement, which says he
has only bedroom.
Mr Burton, who suffers with mobility problems
and is registered disabled, said he believed the case could be a landmark for
thousands of others in his situation.
He said: “It is unjust that I’m having to pay as
if I have a two rooms, when my tenancy says that I have one. The extra room has
been of absolutely no benefit to me.”
Mr Burton’s flat is run by social housing group
Adactus on behalf of the council.
The bedroom tax – which the government calls the
‘spare room subsidy’ – means tenants lose up to 25 per cent of their housing
benefit if they have unoccupied bedrooms.
Manchester council are responsible for
administering the deduction but say they have no power to re-interpret the
strict government guidelines.
However, housing bosses say they sympathise with
the situation and have promised to cover the arrears until a solution is found.
But Mr Burton, 41, says the council was wrong for lumping him in with those
liable for the deduction and is also suing the council for £1,500 for the
‘stress and inconvenience’.
He added: “There are other people out there in
the same situation and hopefully this will set a precedent. It could have
far-reaching implications.”
The hearing will take place at the Manchester
Civil Justice Centre on October 21.
A council spokesperson said: “Mr Burton has
submitted an appeal against his housing benefit after his claim was reassessed
due the introduction of the government’s spare room subsidy.
“We felt the circumstances that found Mr Burton
at the brunt of the bedroom tax were out of his control and unfair – and we
remain committed to absorbing the shortfall in his housing benefit regardless of
the outcome of his appeal.”
Manchester Evening News
