Roger Godsiff MP writes to Iain Duncan Smith to protest suffering caused by the bedroom tax in Birmingham Hall Green
Posted by Roger Godsiff, MP for Birmingham, Hall Green, at 09:28, Mon 7 October 2013:
Roger has written to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions to express his opposition to the bedroom tax and describe its effect on his constituents. He is worried that the policy is unfairly penalising people who are willing to move to a smaller property, but cannot do so because there is a shortage of one and two-bedroom homes.
Roger says: “Like many other MPs, particularly those representing poorer constituencies, I frequently receive letters from people who have been pushed into desperate situations by this policy. They are willing to move, but cannot do so because no smaller houses are available. Yet they are still forced to pay the penalty.”
Roger is also concerned that the policy unfairly targets disabled people. Shockingly, more than half of those affected by the bedroom tax have a disability. He says: “My constituents have explained that they are willing to move from their homes, which have been specially adapted for their needs, but they cannot do so because of the lack of suitable smaller housing. They are then financially penalised, or even forced into homelessness, for something which is utterly beyond their control.”
Nationally, there are smaller properties available for only one in twenty families with spare rooms. In Birmingham 13,557 households are affected by the bedroom tax, but just 368 one and two-bedroom properties are currently unoccupied. Roger has asked Iain Duncan Smith for his suggestions about what the other 13,189 families should do to comply with the policy, and avoid having to give up a significant chunk of their already stretched incomes.
Roger says: “I do not feel that it is fair or right—or will save this country money in the longer term—to push people into poverty and destitution. Ordinary people are being punished for structural problems in the UK’s housing stock for which they, unlike Government Ministers, are not remotely responsible.”
Roger has called on the Government to stop penalising people who are willing to move house to comply with the policy, but cannot do so because there is a national shortage of smaller properties. He also suggested that, rather than punishing the most vulnerable for conditions over which they have no control, the Government start building the new housing which this country desperately needs.
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Posted by Colin, 09:47, Mon 7 October 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
Mr. Godsiff omits to address the cause of the 'structural problems in the UK’s housing stock'; investment in housing plunged, under Blair and Brown, to its lowest level for decades. Just as with the country's bankruptcy, caused by Labour's reckless borrowing & spending, Labour is in complete denial on who is to blame & have lost all credibility.
Posted by Mohammed Hemraj, 10:58, Mon 7 October 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
The present government's policy of guaranteeing to the bank lenders to the first time borrowers is to create a US type bubble. There is no guarantee that the present jobs will be maintained in future and there is hardly any rise in the salaries. It is a failed policy. The fact that house prices have gone up is due cheap lending to those who cannot afford to pay the mortgage. The house prices will continue to rise and the reason is simple. It is the question of demand and supply, there are less stock of houses in the UK whereas the demand is high. A simple solution if to for the government to borrow money from the banks at 1 per cent (rate fixed by the government and government is a strong party so it can borrow cheaply) and build more houses for rented accommodation (this will bring down the present high rents) and/or for future sale. Why cannot the government be a 'good' landlord?
Posted by Alyson Dennis, 11:48, Mon 7 October 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
Great stuff!
Posted by Colin, 08:08, Tue 8 October 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
It is not the business of any Government to be a 'good' landlord, or any other type of landlord. Nor should Governments be engaged in any type of business; that is a matter for private enterprise. Whenever local or national Governments, of any political persuasion, become involved in business, there is waste, fraud, corruption & failure. What the Government could do here, as a short-term measure, to fix the housing emergency, is to put very strict limits on what the state will pay to private landlords, for those on benefits. Existing landlords could be forbidden to evict anyone & houses compulsorily purchased from those landlords who couldn't continue. The billions saved could be used for a massive house-building programme, with the ultimate goal of selling those houses on to sitting tenants, as Thatcher did so brilliantly.
Posted by Mohammed Hemraj, 11:09, Tue 8 October 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
It is a pity that UK citizens should resort to state benefit living in one of the richest country in the world. It is a right, given the appropriate level of eduction, for a person to work and not be morally depressed by claiming state benefits. It seems that this government is falsely relying on the private sector corporations, which is profit motive driven and therefore are looking for cheap labour (say in Bangladesh) and who do not pay taxes. What needs to be done is a public-private partnership to move this country economically forward. The previous failed government policy was to make unemployed people well-off compared with the employed. Show me which country is without waste, fraud, corruption and failure?
Look at London, who are these people who own properties worth millions of pounds. Why is this government not investigating where these people (mostly foreigners who do not pay tax- mansion tax has been abolished) got their money from in the first place and put a stop to this, as the UK citizen cannot afford to buy a property in London.
I see the whole system is rotten in that the political parties rely on corporate donations for their election campaign. I many times wonder if the politicians (and the dictator rulers) all over the world have any ethical and moral standards and are they able to sleep at night peacefully. The worst culprit is the U.S. who supports the dictators for their own selfish needs and want to rule the whole world and the UK is American's puppet. And America does what the Israeli tells them. Look at the several security council's resolutions against Israelis for their aggressive acts against Palestine and where the U.S. has vetoed against all these resolutions. So a double standard has emerged. The public are not fools and they understand what is happening.
Posted by Colin, 09:42, Wed 9 October 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
@Mr. Hemraj, so the bedroom tax is Israel's fault, or have I misunderstood your point?
Posted by Mohammed Hemraj, 10:32, Wed 9 October 2013: (Is this post abusive?) #
Colin, please give us your opinions and I will give mine. I have NOT touched on the issue of bedroom tax. With regard to Israel I said the following and I quote: "The worst culprit is the U.S. who supports the dictators for their own selfish needs and want to rule the whole world and the UK is American's puppet. And America does what the Israeli tells them. Look at the several security council's resolutions against Israelis for their aggressive acts against Palestine and where the U.S. has vetoed against all these resolutions. So a double standard has emerged. The public are not fools and they understand what is happening."
Where is the bedroom tax mentioned and where is my suggestion that it is Israel's fault?