Abortion upper limit to stay at 24 weeks
A row has broken out over government plans to cut hoiusing benefit for social housing tenants living in homes with spare rooms.
H & F Council has controversially introduced morality into the discussion over finances, calling the plans "morally right".
Opponents however counter that the plans are "morally bankrupt".
Under new Government regulations, from April, working age social housing tenants assessed as having one extra bedroom in their home will see their housing benefit reduced by 14%. Those with two or more spare bedrooms will receive 25% less.
Hammersmith & Fulham (H&F) Council argues that the national policy is a crucial step towards reducing the country's £23billion-a-year housing benefit bill, while helping to ease the shortage of family-sized homes for people who really need them.
H&F Council has some of the cheapest social rents in inner-London. Around three quarters of its tenants do not pay the amount in full as they are entitled to housing benefit.
It costs £122 per week to rent a council three-bedroom home, while a similar property in the private rental sector costs an incredible £770 to rent. A five bedroom home costs £140 to rent from the council while its equivalent in the private sector costs £1,335.
Cllr Andrew Johnson, H&F cabinet member for housing, said: “At a time when the nation is broke, it is completely unfair for social housing tenants to receive a large taxpayer subsidy to live in oversized homes while hard working residents renting in the private sector, or paying a hefty mortgage, pay through the nose and can only dream of affording a spare room. We simply have to reduce the housing benefits bill which hard working taxpayers fork out for. "
However, the Council insists that the new government rules need to be applied fairly and has set up a housing payment scheme for exceptional cases. For example, if a spare room has been turned into a sensory room for a disabled child.
The Council is encouraging people who live in social housing that is too big for their needs to downsize so it can be freed up for families who really need the space.
H&F Council believes that 824 of its tenants will be affected by the changes. The council has been working with these tenants since October 2011 and at their request, is looking to rehouse 48 households into smaller and more appropriate accommodation.
From this month, H&F Council is no longer granting new social housing tenancies for life except for elderly or vulnerable people. Instead, all new tenancies will be for five years, or two years in some circumstances. This means that when a tenancy is coming to its natural end, the council will be able to find a smaller home for those who find themselves underoccupying, perhaps through a child leaving home.
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