Charities call for all disabled adults to be exempt from the bedroom tax

Leading charities are demanding that the Government consider exemptions for disabled adults in the bedroom tax that has been introduced this month.

The controversial bedroom tax came into effect at the start of this month, and since the initial announcements of the change, there has been strong concerns raised about the implications the tax will have on many households with disabled family members.

David Orr, chief executive of the National Housing Federation said: "This perverse tax is doing exactly what the Government promised they wouldn’t – hitting the most vulnerable people in our society. They are being penalised for a weak housing policy that for years has failed to build enough affordable homes and reduce the housing benefit bill.”

The tax has been introduced by the Government to tax people who are living in social housing with more bedrooms than occupants, by taxing people for any spare bedrooms which the Government has deemed excessive.

The tax has also been titled ‘under-occupancy’, and although it exempts some disabled children from sharing rooms with their siblings if it is unsuitable, disabled adults are facing the tax for their specialised homes, and extra rooms used for their carers to sleep in.

In reaction to the bedroom tax, six key charities have joined together in order to appeal to the Chancellor about the decisions that have been made about the tax, and urge the Government to create a set of exemptions for disabled adults.

The letter has been signed by the chief executive officers of Carers UK, Carer Trust, Disability Rights UK, Contact and Family, Macmillan Cancer Support and Mencap who hope that they will be able to influence the Government to change the new policy.

In the letter, it was argued that: “Whilst we welcomed the provision which exempts disabled people who needed a spare room for someone to stay overnight to look after them, this does not apply to carers who live with the people they care for. For example where one member of a couple has a disability and the couple cannot sleep in the same room.

“Unless disabled people and their families are protected, those affected face financial hardship or being forced to move – putting at risking their health and moving them away from their personal networks of support and out of homes adapted for their needs.”

The charities expressed their fears that disabled people’s social networks will suffer from the impact of the bedroom tax, if it results in them being forced to move out of their current accommodation.

The charities have argued that the positive benefits that result from strong community relationships will be challenged, saying: “Furthermore, disabled people and their families may move away from neighbours, friends and relatives who provide essential support networks which enable them to live independently or for families to continue to care.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman defended the tax, claiming that it has taken two years to carry out appropriate research into the decision and that it will benefit many people with a low income.

The spokesperson said: "Our welfare reforms will improve the lives of some of the poorest families in our communities, with universal credit simplifying the complex myriad of benefits and making three million people better off. And by next year, we will have taken two million of the lowest earners out of paying tax altogether."

However Mencap senior campaigns and policy officer Beatrice Barleon said: “The 420,000 disabled people that the government identified as being affected by the new under-occupancy rules, will still be affected.”

Bedroom tax is set to penalise couples where one person has a disability and their partner carer uses a separate room to sleep in due to the needs of the disabled person.

However, if a disabled person requires a home carer to stay overnight with them on a regular basis, the disabled person will then be able to receive exemption from the bedroom tax because the situation will not be classed as ‘under occupancy".

Heléna Herklots, chief executive of Carers UK said: ‘These changes would hit families for whom an extra bedroom is essential. If you care full-time for a severely ill or disabled partner, their condition may mean a separate room for you to sleep is vital. Hitting carers and disabled people with extra costs for this essential accommodation, or forcing them to move is simply wrong.”

Ms Barleon said: “Mencap is still calling on the Government to accept that the rules are discriminatory towards disabled adults, particularly where they have been identified as needing a separate bedroom. “We believe all disabled people should be protected from the bedroom tax where they have a genuine need for an additional bedroom.”

Other areas of concern are for disabled people who live in specialised houses suited to their disability. There are fears that they will either pay an increase in taxes if their modified home has spare bedrooms, or be forced to move into smaller houses which do not have proper modifications to suit their living needs.

There will also be an amount of money given to local councils by the Government, a Discretionary Housing Payment (DHP), which will allow councils to help people who are struggling to pay for rent and are at risk of losing their homes due to financial problems as a result of the changes.

Worryingly, the £30m DHP fund is only a finite amount and research by the National Housing Federation has shown that the £30m pot is only one fifth of the amount of benefit which will be taken away from disabled people.

George Osborne has hit back at the negative reception of the Bedroom tax, saying: “Of course, if you listened to the shrill voices of the left you’d think that every change to the welfare system, and any attempt to save money marks the beginning of the end of the world.

“In reality, we are just restoring the original principles of the welfare state: that those who can work must work, and a life on benefits must not be more attractive than working.”

Further research from the National Housing Federation has shown that there are about 230,000 disabled people receiving Disability Living Allowance (DLA) who will lose on average £728 each per year in housing benefit.

If the 100,000 disabled people who live in specially adapted homes are forced to move, it is claimed that the cost on the public for re housing and adapting new homes will also be significant.

Mr Orr, of the National Housing Federation highlighted these problems and argued: “The bedroom tax is ill-thought and unfair as thousands of disabled people will have no choice but to cut back further on food and other expenses in order to stay in their own homes. The ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach takes no account of disabled people’s adapted homes, of foster parents who need rooms to take children in, or of parents sharing custody who will lose the room for their child at weekends.

"It is also incompetent as it will cost the nation money rather than saving it. The Government must repeal this ill-conceived policy, but at the very least right now it must exempt disabled and other vulnerable people from these cuts.”

To take part in our debate on the bedroom tax go to www.homecare.co.uk/news/debates.cfm