Impact of the ‘Bedroom Tax’ Wythenshawe Community Housing Group Steve License Executive Director of Housing

WCHG – Who we are!  Group Structure  Combined stock homes  Annual turnover £61m  Neighbourhood based  Not just a landlord

Not just about the Bedroom Tax  Non-dependent deductions  Size limits on homes (Bedroom Tax)  Benefit cap  Universal credit – !  Nationally - £2.5b of savings  Council Tax reform  HB for under 25’s - a potential threat or a kite flier (800 in Wythenshawe)

Its already tough out there!  Unemployment  Real Incomes falling  Food & Fuel Inflation  25% In fuel poverty  IFS Report – Increase in ‘Absolute Poverty’  20% No bank account  60% No insurance  Believe it or not the poor have been protected!  Payday Lending – 7745% interest

Scale of the Problem  Initially 3800 ‘Bedroom tax’ households  50 Benefit Capped families  Today /30  100 people on JSA have 2 spare rooms  Stock profile – 90% of houses are 3 bedroomed+  Costs to the Group (Sept 14)  Increased arrears £500k  Additional empty homes £420k  Additional staff £50k

Consequences  Families  Debt  Poverty  Domestic Violence  Children suffer  Business Impact  Business Plan Assumption (£1.5m)  Increased collection costs (£200k)  Demand (waiting list 2500)

What We’ve Done  Invested in extra staff  Assisted in applying for DHP  Amended our Allocations Policy  Facilitating rehousing solutions  Provide money advice, incentives and financial assistance  Used our ‘Real Opportunities’ employment initiative

Conclusion Our experience of the ‘Bedroom Tax’ is:  Cost WCHG £1m in first 6 months  Not provided any significant work incentive  Most people don’t want to move  Those who do can’t  Rent arrears have increased