Thousands of the region's housing association tenants living in properties that are bigger than they need are to be forced to move into smaller accommodation.

Part of the far-reaching Welfare Reform Bill - the biggest shake-up of the benefits system in 60 years - advocates slashing benefits for claimants living in social housing deemed "under-occupied."

If a tenant has one or two "spare" rooms, they could be forced to vacate their home and find accommodation elsewhere - even if they have lived in the property for decades.

The move has been condemned by a Wirral MP who says the Government seems intent on "punishing" tenants.

And a national housing group branded the measure "harsh", saying it will split families from their communities.

According to official figures, a total of 234,000 households in the social tenant sector are overcrowded while 456,000 are under-occupied, by which they mean people have more than one spare room.

The work and pensions department is now drawing up plans to slash housing benefit payments to tenants who live in houses that are too big for them - meaning many will have to move into smaller properties.

Households would see their benefit reduced by up to 15% for homes that have one spare room, and up to 25% for two or more spare rooms.

The Government says tenants should "move to accommodation which better reflects the size and composition of their household" - or they "may have to look further afield or move to the private sector."

The measure would hit about 120,000 thousand people in the North West - representing 43% of working-age housing benefit claimants in the social-rented sector across the region.

Wirral South MP Alison McGovern said: "If they think this is going to work easily, the Conservatives don’t understand Wirral.

"If people have lived somewhere in Wirral for years, they might not be able to move that quickly.

"Is it fair to penalise people for this?

"Many councils will help people downsize to release family homes for others, but punishing people who want to remain a part of their community is a worrying road for this Government to go down.”

The National Housing Federation, which represents 1,200 housing associations in England, says the Bill will see families uprooted from their communities.

Its northern head Derek Long said: "The cuts to housing benefit for households in the North West deemed by the Government to be 'under-occupying' are extremely harsh and could effectively compel thousands of people to lose their homes.

"As a result of these changes, thousands of couples are no longer able to offer their grown-up children a room to stay in should their circumstances change, and many single parents will be pushed away from friends, relatives and support networks.

"Of course 'under-occupation' in the social housing sector should be tackled.

"But slashing people's housing benefit and pushing them into poverty is not the answer."