SCOTLAND’s government and opposition parties have attacked Whitehall plans for fresh welfare cuts dubbed ‘Bedroom Tax Two’ with one prominent figure the proposals “must be stopped”.
Scottish Government ministers expressed grave concerns over the impact of introducing for the first time caps on help for social housing costs, stating it was already spending £100million annually mitigating against welfare cuts.
Communities minister Angela Constance said plans to cut assistance to those aged under 35 and renting from council and housing association by up to one quarter would “only risk making matters worse for social tenants”.
Scottish Labour deputy leader Alex Rowley added: “The Department of Work and Pension proposals must be stopped and we need all parties in the Scottish Parliament to unite to make sure they do not go ahead as planned in 2019.”
Meanwhile, Scotland’s councils have warned the new cap on social housing benefits would have a major adverse effect on their finances amid predictions of spiralling arrears.
The Herald revealed yesterday how the DWP will from early 2019 only pay social tenants the so-called Local Housing Allowance (LHA).
But single tenants under 35 with no children will see their benefits limited to the ‘shared accommodation rate’ (SAR) which is much lower than the average for one-bedroom properties. It means that a younger tenant in Glasgow who would normally be entitled to £92.06 under the current system, will receive £68.28 in housing benefit.
It has sparked fears it will undermine Scottish Government plans to build 50,000 new affordable homes, increase homelessness, and weaken public sector finances across Scotland,
Social landlords across the country, both councils and housing associations, have already begun assessing the numbers of under-35s currently residing in their properties to gauge the scale of the impact in 2019.
Sources claim the number of tenants falling into this bracket will rise without an economic upturn, with job losses and finance-related marital problems a major factor in the numbers of younger people on social housing waiting lists.
Ms Constance said: “We are deeply concerned about this significant change to the way the LHA cap is going to be introduced.
“The Scottish Government is currently spending £100 million a year mitigating cuts inflicted by the UK Government, which includes funding to fully mitigate the bedroom tax.
“This money could instead be invested in lifting people out of poverty, as opposed to spending to make up for the damage done by worst excesses of welfare reform.”
Mr Rowley said: “These proposed changes make no sense whatsoever and will make a very bad situation even worse.”
A spokesman for Scotland’s main councils umbrella organisation Cosla, said:”With our partners across the housing sector, we have already begun to assess the impact on those affected by these changes.
“We expect councils and social landlords across Scotland to suffer adverse consequences should these plans go ahead unchanged.”
The DWP said the changes were “about restoring fairness to the system and ensuring that those on benefits face the same choices as everyone else.
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