Tenants fearing eviction despite council pledge
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BENEFIT claimants in Caithness are worried they will be turfed out of their homes as the bedroom tax begins to bite.
Caithness Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) say enquiries relating to housing benefit have increased by 45% compared to the same period 12 months ago.
The rise has been attributed to welfare reform which will see tenants in council or housing association homes penalised if it is deemed they have more bedrooms than they need.
Since the new regulations came into force three months ago, Highland Council tenants have racked up £25,000 in rent arrears.
By the end of last month, 821 tenants were in arrears and a total debt of £198,470 had been recorded.
That is a significant hike from March when 724 people were behind and the council was owed £173,491.
There has been a 12.6% increase in "new" debt amounting to £24,979 as residents have struggled to cope after their benefits were slashed.
The council has already promised to not evict tenants badly affected by the bedroom tax in a year-long moratorium.
But Caithness CAB manager Jill Smith said despite the promise, fears in the far north continue to grow and she is asking for people who face having to pay the rent with reduced benefits to come forward.
"At a local level we have seen our enquiries relating to housing benefit increase by 45% compared to the same period last year," she said.
"When clients visit the bureaus we provide them with their options and assist them to apply for discretionary housing payment where appropriate.
"We also assist them to review their finances through the Money Advice Service to enable them to maximise their income, reduce outgoings and manage their money more effectively.
"For more complex casework we are a partner within a group of north Highland CABs who run the North Highland Housing and Homelessness Project where we have specialist advisers who can advise, negotiate and represent within court if necessary, helping to try to avoid repossession and eviction."
She added: "We collect local evidence from clients who contact our service but are interested to hear more about how the housing benefit under-occupancy rules are affecting people.
"We would like to hear of any cases in which changes to housing benefit mean that people are faced with a choice of paying the extra rent liability out of their benefits or, for example, moving out of a home equipped with necessary adaptions for living with a disability."
The issue has intensified in Caithness due to the lack of affordable one-bedroom accommodation available.
A John O’Groat Journal study carried out in March revealed the total amount of single properties owned by Highland Council and housing associations in the region totalled 22 with a waiting list of at least 250.
But 17 of those properties had been earmarked for people of retirement age, meaning there were only five properties available to people of working age in the region.
Council leader Drew Hendry said there were no plans to extend the moratorium but did not rule out the possibility of a longer ban next year.
He pledged it would continue to lobby Westminster for the bedroom tax’s impact to be softened.
"We will have to wait and see at the end of that time but our first priority is to see that people in the Highlands are being treated fairly," he said.
"We made a commitment to people that we will protect them from the worst impact, it is not a carte blanche for everybody and the bedroom tax has got to apply to individual situations.
"Everybody is unanimous in the council that the bedroom tax is a horrendous imposition.
"We will continue to press the UK Government because it is hugely unfair and to try and mitigate what they have created with this monstrous thing."
