Discarded cardboard in city centre doorways is just one of the worrying signs that rough sleeping in Manchester is on the increase. That so many people should spend their nights on the streets of our proud city should concern us all. But this is just the most visible sign of a widespread housing shortage and growing homelessness that runs much deeper in the United Kingdom.
The reality is that too many people in our city are living in overcrowded properties, in inappropriate conditions or relying on friends and family to give them a sofa to sleep on for the night. Data shows there are currently more than 19,000 people waiting for social housing in Manchester; almost 85,000 across the whole of Greater Manchester.
As a nation we need urgently to address the need for more appropriate and affordable housing in the social and private sector. But the first step we should take is to axe the ‘bedroom tax’ which penalises those in social housing for the shortage of available properties.
It is an unfair charge levied against tenants in the social housing sector who are deemed to have a ‘spare’ bedroom and works by restricting housing benefit to allow for one bedroom for each person or couple.
Those with one ‘spare’ room lose 14 per cent of the housing benefit eligible rent. Those who have two or more spare rooms lose 25 per cent. On average the bedroom tax costs families £700 a year.
No allowance is made for parents who want a room available because they have weekend access to a child from a previous relationship or for couples who prefer to sleep alone, even for medical reasons. But the cruellest irony of all is that, even when tenants want to avoid the charge by moving, there aren’t any smaller properties for them to move in to. And the inability of tenants to move into smaller properties means that the bedroom tax does nothing to free up properties for the many thousands who are on the waiting lists either.
The bedroom tax is failing to deliver on its promise to those waiting for social housing – but it is existing tenants who are paying the price for that broken promise. We now know that more tenants across Wythenshawe and Sale East are being charged the bedroom tax than in any other constituency across the country.
The people I speak to in our community are already struggling financially and cannot afford to lose £700 a year. And that is why I have taken the unusual step of challenging anyone who stands for election in Wythenshawe – no matter what political party they represent – to join me and speak out against this unfair tax.
I believe we owe it to the people of Wythenshawe and Sale East to do what we can to end an injustice that has trapped too many families in our community in an impossible position.
We need to address the urgent need for social housing, but the ‘bedroom tax’ is not the answer.
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Mike Kane is member of parliament for Wythenshare and Sale East. He tweets @MikeKaneMP
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