No sense in taxpayer funding '1 million spare rooms in social rented sector' - Chris Grayling

Published by 24publishing for 24dash.com in Housing and also in Central Government, Communities, Local Government

Employment minister Chris Grayling has said it makes "no sense" for the taxpayer to fund the 1 million spare rooms in the social rented sector at a time when people are queuing up on waiting lists throughout the country.

Mr Grayling was responding to another MP's concerns in the House of Commons about the impacts of the new under-occupation rules which come into force next April.

From that date, some 670,000 social tenants - two-thirds containing a disabled family member - face losing an average of £13 per week because they are deemed to have one or more additional bedrooms.

It's part of moves by the Government to rein in welfare spending and bring the social sector inline with the private rented sector. It wants those tenants facing cuts to their housing benefit to downsize to a smaller home or find extra income through employment.

Labour MP for Wolverhampton North East, Emma Reynolds, asked Mr Grayling whether individuals or families with disabilities who are in adapted housing would be subject to reductions in their housing benefit?

Mr Grayling said that for those cases they would have to rely on discretionary funds channelled through local authorities.

He said: "We have ensured that local authorities have a substantial amount of money in discretionary funds to take into account the kind of situation that the hon. Lady describes, but the reality is that in the social rented sector we have about 1 million spare rooms, and at a time when people are queuing up on waiting lists throughout the country, it makes no sense for the taxpayer to pay for that."