Working hard to help Wirral residents affected by 'bedroom tax' (From Wirral Globe)

Working hard to help Wirral residents affected by 'bedroom tax'

11:26am Friday 19th October 2012 in Letters

IN response to the letter 'Bedroom tax is making me even more ill' (Letters October 9), I would like to clarify some of the points raised.

The changes to the welfare benefit system are Government policy, not changes instigated by Wirral Partnership Homes or any other registered housing provider.

We do not have any control over changes to Welfare Benefits. We are, however, working hard to make sure that all residents affected understand these changes.

We are seriously concerned about the impact that the Welfare Reform will have on our tenants in receipt of benefits.

Over 2,000 WPH tenants will be affected by what is known as the "Spare Bedrooms Tax" and the reduction in income to those tenants over the next three years will be around £4.5 million.

If tenants affected by the 'bedroom tax' cannot or will not move to smaller accommodation, the Government expects them to pay the difference between their reduced Housing Benefit and their rent.

Your correspondent S Davis makes a valid point that WPH (and other social housing landlords on Wirral) do not have enough smaller properties for those affected.

All those in receipt of benefit need to bear in mind that the charge for any spare bedroom is only one of many changes to welfare benefits that will be implemented by the Government and we have estimated that over 5000 WPH tenants are likely to be affected.

Ms Davis states that WPH are offering to sell her home to her with a £75,000 reduction.

In actual fact, all tenants who were previously Wirral Borough Council tenants have the 'right to buy' their home through a scheme which was introduced over 30 years ago.

The Government has recently increased the size of discounts allowed and all relevant housing providers have been asked to publicise these changes to their tenants.

WPH has no choice about this and the amount of money it raises is not sufficient for WPH to build a new home to replace the one sold.

Our tenants face some very severe challenges as a consequence of the welfare reforms and in turn, this will have an impact on WPH.

Demand for some property types will fall and demand for other types will increase way beyond WPH’s ability to provide them.

It is inevitable that the financial difficulty that many of our tenants will face will result in higher income collection costs and reduced income for WPH.

We understand why Ms Davis is concerned about these measures but I would like to reassure all our tenants that we are doing everything we can to raise awareness of the Government's changes.

If any WPH tenants would like advice, they can call our dedicated Welfare Benefit Reform Team on (0151) 666 7001 or visit the WPH website at www.wphomes.org.uk where there is further advice and an on-line bedroom tax calculator to help you work out whether you will be affected.

John Mycock
Assistant director of housing, Wirral Partnership Homes

Comments(5)

carlasway says...
2:12pm Mon 22 Oct 12

WPH "" if a tenant were to take in lodgers would they be creating a HMO,( What this means basically is that a house is a HMO if it is occupied by 3 or more persons forming more than 1 household) and if so then HMO size standards would have to apply, would it not. So if a tenant took in 2 lodgers to help pay their bedroom tax, they would have a definition of what constitutes a bedroom but if they dont then they do not have a definition of what constitutes a bedroom as a tenant, surely as a social landlord you should be able to challange this area of legal exploration.how there can be 2 definitions.

I have just done a google search on HMO space standards a bedroom has to have a minimum space of 6.51m squared or 70.1sq/ft. govt wont define what is a bedroom, and (b) leave this to landlords to determine (Yes a blame deflection by Freud onto social landlords) that someone in the housing sector would take such a case to be legally determined.
It may also be the case that public interest lawyers may well launch such a case as it is in the public interest and I am surprised this has not yet happened."""
General standards for houses in multiple occupation on Wirral Borough Council
http://www.wirral.go
v.uk/my-services/hou
sing/information-and
-advice

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Lurkinhead says...
7:07pm Mon 22 Oct 12

"We understand why Ms Davis is concerned about these measures but I would like to reassure all our tenants that we are doing everything we can to raise awareness of the Government's changes."

That's not particularly reassuring though is it Mr Mycock, raising awareness but not offering a viable solution.

As you also state: "Demand for some property types will fall and demand for other types will increase way beyond WPH’s ability to provide them."

So, what are people who are unable to downsize within the social housing sector supposed to do, and where are they supposed to go?

Are you seriously suggesting that after many years as part of a community, with the reassurance of an assured tenancy, they are supposed to uproot, possibly to somewhere where they have no ties or connection, and have the worry of a short-term tenancy only, with no sense of permanence?

And what does this casting people out of social housing achieve I wonder? Could it be to increase demand for miserable and poorly maintained rabbit hutches in the private sector, to the extent that private landlords can handsomely profit from the misery of the uprooted?

Does the doublespeak of describing the appalling worry facing many WPH tenants as "severe challenges" help in any way do you think?

Wirral Partnership Homes website states some very worthy aspirations, such as:

"Providing homes and building communities where people want to live and where all can thrive"

"Providing affordable homes and services"

"Making sure our services are accessible"

So Mr Mycock, if we are all to thrive in our communities of accessible and affordable homes, what are you going to do to achieve that, because throwing people out onto the street when they can't afford the rent and have nowhere else to go doesn't really square with such mission statements does it?

Social landlords raison d'etre is to provide affordable housing of a decent standard, and whilst I accept that the bedroom tax is an ideological attack on the poor by this Tory government, and not instigated by the social landlords, WPH must demonstrate social responsibility in not abandoning their tenants or dismantling the communities they claim to value, or else they stand to lose all credibility, and be seen for what they will in effect be - i.e. an organisation who's main motivation is to maximize it's income, rather than to act in the best interests of its tenants.

Over to you Mr Mycock .........

"We understand why Ms Davis is concerned about these measures but I would like to reassure all our tenants that we are doing everything we can to raise awareness of the Government's changes." That's not particularly reassuring though is it Mr Mycock, raising awareness but not offering a viable solution. As you also state: "Demand for some property types will fall and demand for other types will increase way beyond WPH’s ability to provide them." So, what are people who are unable to downsize within the social housing sector supposed to do, and where are they supposed to go? Are you seriously suggesting that after many years as part of a community, with the reassurance of an assured tenancy, they are supposed to uproot, possibly to somewhere where they have no ties or connection, and have the worry of a short-term tenancy only, with no sense of permanence? And what does this casting people out of social housing achieve I wonder? Could it be to increase demand for miserable and poorly maintained rabbit hutches in the private sector, to the extent that private landlords can handsomely profit from the misery of the uprooted? Does the doublespeak of describing the appalling worry facing many WPH tenants as "severe challenges" help in any way do you think? Wirral Partnership Homes website states some very worthy aspirations, such as: "Providing homes and building communities where people want to live and where all can thrive" "Providing affordable homes and services" "Making sure our services are accessible" So Mr Mycock, if we are all to thrive in our communities of accessible and affordable homes, what are you going to do to achieve that, because throwing people out onto the street when they can't afford the rent and have nowhere else to go doesn't really square with such mission statements does it? Social landlords raison d'etre is to provide affordable housing of a decent standard, and whilst I accept that the bedroom tax is an ideological attack on the poor by this Tory government, and not instigated by the social landlords, WPH must demonstrate social responsibility in not abandoning their tenants or dismantling the communities they claim to value, or else they stand to lose all credibility, and be seen for what they will in effect be - i.e. an organisation who's main motivation is to maximize it's income, rather than to act in the best interests of its tenants. Over to you Mr Mycock ......... Lurkinhead

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carlasway says...
9:04am Tue 23 Oct 12

lurkinhead well said, i applaud you.
i posted a comment on the original letter from Ms Davis. I quote......
In response to S. Davis, bedroom tax
like you I will also be affected by the bedroom tax, I am classed as being under-occupied by 2 bedrooms, i will be put in severe poverty as i will have to try to make up the difference myself it would leave me with no option but to cut back on essential food and also cut back on fuel usage, as I will find it impossible to fund both. So I will either starve to death or freeze to death, or even become homeless.
this tax can and will only bring greater poverty/hardship to the most vulnerable and already struggling, . The government has implemented this tax, because they know there is not enough smaller accommodation to rehouse everyone who is classed as being under-occupied, they are guaranteed this extra revenue, as long as they take it of the poor, sick & disabled, they do not care.
. we will be forced to live like battery reared hens, squeezed into the smallest accommodation that can be found for us all, or will cardboard cities be set up for us all, this is another STEALTH TAX designed to tax the poor. People on low wage in receipt of some housing benefit will also be affected.
This government have vilified & scapegoated the sick vulnerable and disabled, unemployed, they have whipped up divisions in society using blatent propaganda techniques, and demolished hard won-rights and protections..They have no morality, no sense of stewardship of our country and it’s laws or responsibility to citizens. They got into government and made it a help-yourself free-for all for rich buddies.
• How hypicrital is this government, do the public not realise that all MPs claim housing benefit, AKA 2nd home allowances, you don’t see them getting vilified. ? Because they are a class of rich expensively educated out of touch toffs who hate ordinary people. All I can say is Don't be old, don't be ill, don't be unemployed under this government there is nothing down for you.....

I recieved a letter from WPH, stating that i will have to pay at LEAST £21,40 per week bedroom tax, this is calculated at this years rent costs, god knows how much it will be as from next April as no doubt WPH will follow government guidelines and increase the rent by at least another 3%. I contacted WPH to enquire if they plan to freeze the rents next year, the answer was NO, they will not freeze it,
WPH if the poorer of society are priced out of social housing homes were do they then go, cardboard cities/tent cities/shop doorways/parks etc

lurkinhead well said, i applaud you. i posted a comment on the original letter from Ms Davis. I quote...... In response to S. Davis, bedroom tax like you I will also be affected by the bedroom tax, I am classed as being under-occupied by 2 bedrooms, i will be put in severe poverty as i will have to try to make up the difference myself it would leave me with no option but to cut back on essential food and also cut back on fuel usage, as I will find it impossible to fund both. So I will either starve to death or freeze to death, or even become homeless. this tax can and will only bring greater poverty/hardship to the most vulnerable and already struggling, . The government has implemented this tax, because they know there is not enough smaller accommodation to rehouse everyone who is classed as being under-occupied, they are guaranteed this extra revenue, as long as they take it of the poor, sick & disabled, they do not care. . we will be forced to live like battery reared hens, squeezed into the smallest accommodation that can be found for us all, or will cardboard cities be set up for us all, this is another STEALTH TAX designed to tax the poor. People on low wage in receipt of some housing benefit will also be affected. This government have vilified & scapegoated the sick vulnerable and disabled, unemployed, they have whipped up divisions in society using blatent propaganda techniques, and demolished hard won-rights and protections..They have no morality, no sense of stewardship of our country and it’s laws or responsibility to citizens. They got into government and made it a help-yourself free-for all for rich buddies. • How hypicrital is this government, do the public not realise that all MPs claim housing benefit, AKA 2nd home allowances, you don’t see them getting vilified. ? Because they are a class of rich expensively educated out of touch toffs who hate ordinary people. All I can say is Don't be old, don't be ill, don't be unemployed under this government there is nothing down for you..... I recieved a letter from WPH, stating that i will have to pay at LEAST £21,40 per week bedroom tax, this is calculated at this years rent costs, god knows how much it will be as from next April as no doubt WPH will follow government guidelines and increase the rent by at least another 3%. I contacted WPH to enquire if they plan to freeze the rents next year, the answer was NO, they will not freeze it, WPH if the poorer of society are priced out of social housing homes were do they then go, cardboard cities/tent cities/shop doorways/parks etc carlasway

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Lurkinhead says...
6:30am Thu 25 Oct 12

The headline for this letter is:

"Working hard to help Wirral residents affected by 'bedroom tax' "

Come on Mr Mycock, please explain how you are helping, other than to ensure the lambs are well briefed that they are about to be led to slaughter?

Here's another one - and this is no disrespect to those who are on benefits by the way - but what about people who have worked all their lives, paid into the system and taken very little out, who, through no fault of their own, may lose their jobs after April 2013 due to the economic crisis?

If, for example, they now live alone, but have a two bedroom flat as their child has recently left home, I would guess that WPH are not going to have any downsize options available, as these options will have already been taken by tenants affected right now, who are forced join the scramble for smaller properties within the social housing sector prior to April 2013.

So what's the plan - are you simply going to thank these people who have been responsible tenants for many many years, and been a stabilizing factor at the heart of their communities you so cherish, but say it's not your problem that they have hit hard times or where they go, and evict them onto the street anyway?

Shameful Mr Mycock, unless of course you can "reassure" us that this is not the intended course of action by WPH?

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Tired.of.hearing.it says...
11:09pm Sun 11 Nov 12

carlasway wrote:
WPH "" if a tenant were to take in lodgers would they be creating a HMO,( What this means basically is that a house is a HMO if it is occupied by 3 or more persons forming more than 1 household) and if so then HMO size standards would have to apply, would it not. So if a tenant took in 2 lodgers to help pay their bedroom tax, they would have a definition of what constitutes a bedroom but if they dont then they do not have a definition of what constitutes a bedroom as a tenant, surely as a social landlord you should be able to challange this area of legal exploration.how there can be 2 definitions.

I have just done a google search on HMO space standards a bedroom has to have a minimum space of 6.51m squared or 70.1sq/ft. govt wont define what is a bedroom, and (b) leave this to landlords to determine (Yes a blame deflection by Freud onto social landlords) that someone in the housing sector would take such a case to be legally determined.
It may also be the case that public interest lawyers may well launch such a case as it is in the public interest and I am surprised this has not yet happened."""
General standards for houses in multiple occupation on Wirral Borough Council
http://www.wirral.go

v.uk/my-services/hou

sing/information-and

-advice

Regarding your point about taking in lodgers, you might want to look at the amount of benefit you would lose for non dependant deductions. Sadly, this government, through the Welfare Reform Act will reduce benefits any which way they can!
WPH and other Registered Providers are as much victims of this government as anyone else, and face the very real risk of losing so much money, staff and services they will be bankrupt!

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