Bedroom tax affected more than 522,000 people, first figures show

Spread the love

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2013/nov/13/bedroom-tax-figures-august

The government has released the first statistics showing the impact of the controversial subsidy withdrawal in August

More than 522,000 housing benefit claimants were subject to the bedroom tax in August and had their housing benefit reduced by an average of £14.50 a week, official figures show.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) said the figures were the first official returns on the impact of the controversial tax, or bedroom subsidy withdrawal.

They show more than 429,000 people were penalised for having one bedroom too many, losing an average of £12.66 a week; more than 92,000 were penalised for having two excess bedrooms, and were losing an average of £23.43 a week.

The government said there had been a steady fall in the number of households affected, with 24,000 fewer claimants affected than in May.

Leave a Reply