After landlord Councillors stopped a motion on the UK Government’s Bedroom Tax from being debated in County Hall in October, the motion was finally heard this week.
Labour Councillors Matthew Dorrance and Sandra Davies put forward the motion which called on Powys County Council to pledge that it would not evict a Council tenant who gets into debt because of the financial pressures of the Bedroom Tax. The motion also called on Powys to make representations to the County’s MPs calling for a review of the Bedroom Tax.
Labour’s Housing Spokesperson in Powys, Cllr Matthew Dorrance said “The Bedroom Tax is hitting more than 1000 households across the county and we know that since it was introduced, rent arrears have increased by 10%. That’s £60,000 in additional debt for our tenants, and we know that most of those affected by the Bedroom Tax are people who are working.
“But I don’t think it’s the full picture. At the moment, Powys is able to offer tenants some small support through the Discretionary Housing Payment scheme but when that money dries up, I fear that more people will fall behind with their rent and deeper into debt. As things stand, that can result in eviction.
“My motion called on the Council to pledge that we will develop a repayment plan with tenants rather than forcing them out of their homes but sadly, Powys County Council rejected this. The eviction process is costly to the Council, it harms our tenants and our communities and even after we evict tenants, we have a statutory responsibility to rehouse them. Taking this into account, I believe my proposals would be cheaper for the Council and better for our communities.”
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