Scotland: Underoccupancy Charge

Lord Skelmersdale Excerpts

Thursday 24th October 2013 Lords Chamber

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, I must make the point that while the party opposite likes to use the expression “bedroom tax”, it is deeply misleading. A tax is when you take away money that people earn. We are limiting the amount of money that the taxpayer pays to people. There are 1.4 million one-bedroom properties, which become available at the rate of roughly 100,000 a year. Quite a lot of people are likely to want to keep an extra bedroom because they have the resources and the desire to keep it. Therefore, there will be a period of adjustment, and we are going through it. We are spending the discretionary housing payment to allow that transition to happen in an orderly way.

[Lord Skelmersdale (Con)]

My Lords, will my noble friend confirm that housing benefit, first, is paid for private sector accommodation and, secondly, that under the previous Labour Government it was restricted to a certain number of rooms in those circumstances?

[Lord Freud]

My Lords, my noble friend is right that the private rented sector basis is the local housing allowance, which is paid on the shape of the family who occupies. It is paid on the basis of how many rooms are required. Until now, there has been an imbalance between the provision in the social rented sector and the private rented sector, which this policy corrects.