The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC), a national coalition of over 50 charities, is calling on the Government to take immediate action to exempt disabled people, their families and carers from the ‘bedroom tax’ changes to Housing Benefit.
Rt Hon Iain Duncan Smith MPDepartment for Work and Pensions
Caxton House
Tothill Street
London
SW1H 9DA
26.11.2013
Dear Secretary of State,
The Disability Benefits Consortium (DBC), a national coalition of over 50 charities, is calling on the Government to take immediate action to exempt disabled people, their families and carers from the ‘bedroom tax’ changes to Housing Benefit.
The latest official statistics show that more than half a million social housing tenants are affected by the changes. This is hitting disabled people particularly hard as –
- two thirds of housing benefit claimants affected by the tax are disabled;
- 100,000 live in specially adapted properties; and
- around 230,000 claim Disability Living Allowance(DLA)
- over three quarters (77%) of DLA claimants live in the social sector.
Before the policy was implemented, we warned that it would hit disabled people and carers for whom additional accommodation was essential, not spare.
We have been deeply frustrated at reports that disabled people and their families are protected from this policy. The stark evidence since the policy was implemented in April clearly shows they are not. It is hitting disabled people who need an extra room for essential home adaptations or equipment which enable them to live independently; seriously or terminally ill people who sleep on hospital beds and cannot share a room with a partner who cares for them and parents caring 24/7 for disabled children who need a room for a care worker to stay in to give them a night off from caring.
None of these groups are exempt and our organisations are seeing the devastating impact it is having on those who now face a shortfall in their rent as a result of the changes.
9 in 10 disabled people and three quarters of carers affected are now having to cut back on food and heating to pay the shortfall in rent they face as a result of this policy.
Our organisations are hearing time after time from disabled people, carers and families of disabled children who are being forced deeper and deeper into debt and falling behind on their rent, putting them at risk of eviction.
Discretionary payments are not working. Our research shows that only a minority of disabled people and carers receiving support from the fund the Government set aside to cover the shortfall in rent for disabled people. Those who are unable to access discretionary support are being hit with an average bill of £700 a year.
Disabled people and carers are being left in constant fear of losing their homes. Even those who have received discretionary payments to cover the shortfall in rent now are being left with a deep sense of insecurity – knowing they may have to reapply for temporary support for the rest of their lives just to stay in their own homes.
The Government must act now to exempt disabled people and carers from this policy.
Yours sincerely,
Liz Sayce
CEO Disability Rights UK
Heléna Herklots
CEO Carers UK
Richard Hawkes
CEO Scope
Lesley-Anne Alexander
CEO Royal National Institute of Blind People
Paul Breckell
CEO Action On Hearing Loss
Paul Soames
CEO Contact a Family
Gillian Morbey
CEO Sense
Christine Lenehan
Director Council for Disabled Children
Beatrice Barleon
Campaigns Manager Every Disabled Child Matters
Alison Garnham
CEO Child Poverty Action Group
Sonya Chowdhury
CEO Action for M.E
Ailsa Bosworth
CEO National Rheumatoid Arthritis Society
Douglas Gilroy
CEO President National Federation of the Blind of the United Kingdom
Deborah Jack
CEO National AIDS Trust
Richard Leaman
CEO Guide Dogs
Sally Light
CEO Motor Neurone Disease Association
Tracey Lazard
CEO Inclusion London
Peter Collins
Interim CEO, Epilepsy Society
Paul Jenkins
Rethink Mental Illness
Paul Ward
Acting Chief Executive, Terrence Higgins Trust
PJD Lenihan MBE
CEO Action Duchenne
Alan Markey
Chair of the National Association of Welfare Rights Advisers
Dana O'Dwyer
CEO Capability Scotland
Andy Kerr
CEO Sense Scotland
Bill Walden-Jones
CEO Hafal
For more information about the DBC and a full list of its members please go to http://disabilitybenefitsconsortium.wordpress.com/
Further information
Even where disabled people may have a ‘spare bedroom’ there are not enough 'smaller' social sector properties available to move to.
The National Housing Federation estimates that there are 180,000 households under-occupying two bedroom social homes. But in 2011/2012, only 85,000 one bedroom properties became available in the social housing sector.
Even if all the 85,000 one bedroom homes were given to people downsizing from two bedrooms there would still be 95,000 households left over. These 95,000 households would face either moving to the more expensive private sector or staying put and trying to make up the shortfall in their benefit.
In addition, rents in the private sector are higher than in the social sector and it is quite possible a disabled person could be paid more in housing benefit after moving to smaller inadequate accommodation than the social sector property they occupy.
The Government has made much of the help of extra discretionary housing payments (DHPs) being available to help disabled social housing tenants pay shortfalls in their rent.
Yet research conducted by the Papworth Trust showed that -
- 1 in 3 disabled people applying for DHPs are refused (with no right of independent appeal) , the same number as non-disabled people;
- 90% of disabled people refused a DHP are already cutting back on food, drink, household bills and medication or therapies; and
- many councils taking into account DLA when assessing income for DHP applications.
Research by the University of York highlights that whilst the bedroom tax is designed to reduce housing benefit spending, ‘real data’ does not match key assumptions underlying the DWP’s model.
Highlighting 'serious shortcomings' in the DWP's modelling, the research suggest that three of the DWP’s four key assumptions should be re-examined, since -
- its savings projection assumed that not one of the affected households would respond to the policy by moving to a smaller home;
- if real data is used, and taking into account regional variations in impact, the total savings the DWP’s model predicts reduces by £160m (33%);
- real data suggests more variation in potential outcomes - for example some movers may end up with higher rents and higher total housing benefit costs; and
- the DWP model does not contain all of the main factors likely to influence the level of housing benefit savings from the policy, for example expenditure on discretionary housing payments and the additional costs of fitting aids and adaptations in new homes for disabled tenants who chose to move.
The number of council households affected by bedroom tax with rent arrears has risen by 59%, according to new joint research by National Federation of ALMOs, Association of Retained Council Housing and Councils with ALMOs Group (which jointly represent over 1.3 million council households).
References -
The Bedroom Tax – Some Home Truths – National Housing Federation 28 March 2013
Making Discretionary Housing Payments work for disabled people
- The Papworth Trust July 2013
Carers and Housing Benefit size criteria changes - Carers UK
July 2013 Testing DWP's assessment of the impact of the social rented sector size criterion on housing benefit costs and other factors – University of York October 2013
Welfare Reform Survey report - National Federation of ALMOs October 2013
DBC
