MPs have come under pressure to accept an amendment to the government’s plan for a ‘bedroom tax’.
More than 70 family, disability and housing groups have written a joint letter urging MPs to accept the amendment to the Welfare Reform Bill which returns to the House of Commons today.
Under the government’s plans, 670,000 households – two-thirds containing a disabled family member – would lose an average of £670 a year in housing benefit because they are deemed to have one or more additional bedrooms.
In December members of the House of Lords voted in favour of a cross-party amendment to exempt the ‘bedroom tax’ from families with just one additional bedroom where there are no alternative properties available.