Have you ever heard of the "bedroom tax"?
Me either but it seems to be causing trouble for people across the pond. I don't quite get the "what" and "whys" behind the issue but after reading an article here it seems like people are really and truly pissed off. I love it.
Me either but it seems to be causing trouble for people across the pond. I don't quite get the "what" and "whys" behind the issue but after reading an article here it seems like people are really and truly pissed off. I love it.
Back in the 80s Mrs Thatcher's Tory government brought in a policy called "Right to Buy" where tenants of local government social housing were allowed to buy the house they rented for reduced rates. The Left were opposed to the idea which was hypocritical on their part. Ideologically because they were party of supposed social mobility (in the sense that they want the standard of living of all to rise) they refused to accept that many "working class" were now in position to be able to move from renting to paying for a mortgage. That their supposed voter base jumped at the opportunity was ignored by the leaders of the Left; the latter truly showing themselves as the politics of the entitled knowing what is best for the masses. What was comical and truly showed the depth of Leftist thinking at the local level was that many of the leaders, councillors and trade union leaders, were often the first queue to buy their rented council homes. A number I know used their influence to make sure their applications got processed as quickly as possible just in case the opportunity disappeared. You have to consider that the political mindset of the period was still that of that 70s in that nobody was sure was how long a government would last; nobody was expecting the Tories or anybody else to be in office for over a decade. In the property boom that followed many of those Leftist leaders moved away from those council estates into their own privates homes. But many kept their properties to rent out; one of the reason why they were so keen to maintain government rental subsidies (called Housing Benefits) as high as possible because these get paid directly to the landlord. Councils stopped building social housing which put pressure on the remaining housing stock but the situation was manageable. This situation was exacerbated when Tony Blair's Labour government introduced an open door immigration policy as well as the EU "forcing" us to open up our borders to Eastern Europeans. Estimates vary between 4.5 million to 8 million came to the UK. Some believe data points to the UK's population being 70 million not 60 million. Of course all those millions put strain on utilities at time when due to low invest, thanks to privatisation, were approaching breaking point. Further add in social decay within the indigenous population too. Polices where a teenage child gets herself pregnant and the council having to find her housing haven't helped.
ReplyDeleteA tax for living in a home you have occupied for decades is unfair especially when the proceeding government basically took all the slack out of the rental market. So yes the people are pissed. But they forget who got them into the situation and only kick at those in office. :)
The concept a of a generic "room tax" is quite an old, and (sadly?) still common, concept. Houses in Germany don't traditionally have closets, for example, because Germans were taxed based upon the number of rooms in their houses. Under the law all closets counted as separate rooms. So people quit building closets.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I have read, the housing issue deals with “social” housing (ie free or heavily subsidized) where the people living there no longer use a room and are being taxed for it.
ReplyDeleteIf this is the case, then this seems to be a “beggars can’t be choosers” issue.
If you are being given something for free (or subsidized) based on a need for a certain number of rooms and then later do not need those rooms, why should you still receive the increased subsidy?
Think of it this way, assume you are getting food-stamps ( a food subsidy program for lower income people in the US) and are getting $500 a month for a family of 5. When one child moves out, should you still get $500? How about two children? At what point do you not get the subsidy? At what point should your need for a larger home that is being paid for in part by the government, be reassessed?
Again, I apologize if I got the underlying issues wrong.
Specifically, the term "Bedroom Tax" is a Labour-coined headline grabber (see also "Pastie Tax" and "Granny Tax") intended by the Opposition to undermine, vox populi, a Government-introduced policy of limiting the size of house that benefit claimants can obtain, either completely free or partially subsidised, via welfare.
ReplyDeleteThe intention of the policy is to encourage those who have received a house on welfare in the past, that is now larger than they need, to either move on (preferably to their own home, or a smaller one on welfare) or to reduce the amount of welfare they receive in lieu of the larger property.
As usual there are a few issues with a general policy not being able to cover all angles, and the policy allows for a case-by-case basis review (which is conveniently forgotten about in the Opposition's arguments). For example, a family receiving welfare who have a disabled child may need the extra space as a treatment room, etc. Hopefully these edge-cases can be resolved, but families will still need to be reviewed.
i think the rule is a bit arbitrary, as i understand it, you apply for housing benefit, on a property, your assessed, not on the property, as able to claim, say £380, but because the property has 2 bedrooms, they lop £40 ish pounds off a month.
Deletebut a 1 bed property going for £380 would be, exempt...
also there are many, examples of people being penalized,
disabled children needing extra, rooms
young children being assessed as only needing 1 room between them.
children dying, then there parents being told they will have too pay for the spare room.
windowless rooms being assessed as bedrooms etc etc etc
this is a very divisive, subject, the same "tax" has forced people to move from areas they have lived for generations, away from support structures, family & friends, when they need them most.
At what point do you say "enough is enough"?
DeleteDoes the 50 year old couple who just sent their last child (of 5) off to school get to keep their 4-6 bedroom home on the taxpayer's dime? What's to keep them from not renting out rooms and still keeping the subsidy?
Obviously there should be exceptions for medical needs and care taken to keep families together, but you should not base your laws on cases that are the “exception to the rules”.
On the cost of the property issue, just as in the US, benefits are adjusted based on the area’s “cost of living”. Here in the US you are given a percentage of the cost of living in a certain area. If you live in state that has higher food/gas/living costs, then your benefit is higher. It sounds like the same applies there too.
At what point do you say "enough is enough"?
Does the 50 year old couple who just sent their last child (of 5) off to school get to keep their 4-6 bedroom house on the taxpayer's dime? What's to keep them from not renting out rooms and still keeping the subsidy?
Obviously there sh
The papers and the labour party are up in arms, but I've just been temping and its a very popular measure with the low paid.
ReplyDeleteIts not a "Tax" in any sense of the word.
Some people in the UK qualify for a government paid house.
There was a mechanism for people to get bigger (more expensive) houses as their families grew, but no mechanism for them to get smaller ones as those families shrank.
So, we have single adults or couples in six bedroom houses, where they live rent free at cost to the taxpayer of several thousand pounds per month, and we have have large families in one bed flats, who cant afford anything bigger.
All the "bedroom tax" does is charge the single adult in a six bed house 5 bedrooms worth of rent, unless he/she agrees to move to a one bed (but still free) house.