Leeds council tackles bedroom tax with semantic solution
Leeds has come up with an interesting angle on something controversial. The extension of the approach taken here may be followed by other authorities and in rural England might help people with little choice but to move, to stay in their localities. I make no political comment about whether this is a good or bad thing! The article tells us:
Leeds council has come up with a novel way of sidestepping the controversial bedroom tax: reclassifying more than 800 “spare” rooms in its social homes as “non-specific rooms”.
The creative wordplay means tenants in affected properties are not classed as underoccupying their homes and do not have to pay a surcharge as a result.
The government’s housing welfare reform, which came into effect in April, reduced housing benefit to council or housing association tenants, who ministers claim have more bedrooms than they need. The measure is estimated to have affected around 660,000 people, who are losing an average of £14 a week.
But in what appears to be a legitimate loophole, Leeds council is to reclassify around 837 spare bedrooms. Those who have already been subject to the bedroom tax and have lost out on housing benefit in the last two months are set to be refunded.