By Lee Baker
Lambeth Council is coming under pressure to protect Loughborough Estate residents from losing their homes due to the bedroom tax.
The Loughborough Estate Tenants and Residents Association is urging the council to not make those tenants leave their homes who face eviction as a result of the changes.
There was unanimous support for a motion urging the council to protect the 170 people on the Loughborough Estate facing a 14% cut in their housing benefit because they have a spare room.
Grace Lally, chair of the association, told a packed meeting earlier this month: “Lambeth is one of the most litigious councils in the country. It’s ridiculous how much the council spends on court actions, making people homeless, which doesn’t save the council money.”
“We should not allow people to be evicted because their benefit is cut for having a spare bedroom.”
She said that other councils had vowed to not put resources into evicting affected tenants and others were exploring whether they could re-designate rooms so that tenants do not face cuts.
But Labour councillor for the area Matt Parr disappointed residents when he responded: “The council can’t let the arrears grow. That would cause problems for the council, we’ll have a bigger and bigger hole in our housing revenue account.”
And he said that he doubted whether the council would “get away with” re-classifying flats as having fewer rooms than they really do.
But after one furious tenant told him that “regardless of whether it would work, it’s the fight that’s important,” Parr agreed to suggest “foiling tactics”.
Parr also backed a suggestion at the meeting that the council could help any residents who decide to downsize to a smaller property to escape the cut to stay on the estate. The council could help them to find somebody to swap with so they are not waiting years for another flat.
And he agreed to find out how residents could apply for help from the discretionary housing payments fund that the Government has made available for some people affected by the bedroom tax.
Lally said afterwards: “We elect councillors to represent us, not to manage the council. I hope that the council listens to us.”
http://www.facebook.com/groups/antibedroomtax/
Its about time Labour party Cllrs started to support the people they are supposed to represent. What is the Labour Group in Lambeth doing to oppose the vindictive cuts and welfare “reforms” by a Tory?LD government.
Contrast the Labour party in Lambeths supine response to cuts that affect its core voters to it being the most litigous in the country when it comes down to the little people.
We have the same problem here in Salford, Greater Manchester. A lot of tower blocks with two bedroom accommodation, in which families with children are not allowed, so who will occupy these two bedroom flats without paying the bedroom tax ? You will have to be either a pensioner and/or employed full-time, so the whole concept of under-occupation is discrimination against the working age single people claiming housing benefit, who against no fault of their own, got allocated these two bedroom flats. In Salford the difference between a one bedroom and a two bedroom flat in the same tower block is £ 6.32, while the bedroom tax reduction in housing benefit is £ 12.84, twice the amount per week what the extra bedroom is worth in rent difference, is this the same in Brixton ?