Government’s projected savings from bedroom tax were ‘exaggerated’, research shows
I have made no secret of my view that this legislation is having a pernicious impact in rural places. The latest research findings, by my old alma mater, make me think it is perhaps all about gestures and little about any care or consideration for people who have personal stories far more complex than the rudimentary logic underpinning the legislation. Particularly people in rural areas where the alternate housing options can be low or non existent.
The financial savings generated by the “bedroom tax” may have been significantly exaggerated by the Government, according to research which shows the controversial policy is likely to save £160m less in its first year than the projected £480m.
Researchers at the University of York took figures gathered since April from four of the country’s largest housing associations and applied them to a model used by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to estimate savings. Riverside, Wigan and Leigh Housing, Affinity Sutton and Gentoo commissioned the team to apply their figures based on actual experience and see how they matched the department’s predictions.
One of the stated aims of the policy was to reduce housing benefit costs, but the research suggests that these were exaggerated and the DWP’s model for calculating savings “flawed”. The Government underestimated the proportion of tenants under-occupying by one bedroom who would downsize, and of those, who would end up in the more expensive private sector.