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Pensioners hit by bedroom tax under universal credit in mixed-age households
Further to Don’s post on the position of mixed-age couples between April and October and the combination of spare bedroom tax and universal credit, the Sunday People carried a story that says they have “discovered” that although they will escape housing benefit cuts in April, many will be caught in the net from October. They say that when Universal Credit is introduced, thousands of pensioners will suffer if they are new claimants. They note that Ministers said categorically that the bedroom tax would only affect people of working age.
When the tax comes into force in April, a couple with one pensioner and one person of working age will be exempt. That will continue even if they move to Universal Credit. But they note that the exemption will cease to apply for new claimants in mixed-age homes under Universal Credit. DWP guidance says: “New housing benefit claimants who are mixed aged couples and claiming pension credit will not be exempt when they transfer on to Universal Credit.”
For the whole article, see Bedroom tax: Pensioners WILL lose out
Interestingly, the story was picked up by the Mail, who ran a piece with a headline saying that this “could force pensioners to move into smaller homes”, and noting the following:
* Around 600,000 people expected to be hit by reforms
* £14 deducted every week per empty bedroom as part of new universal credit scheme
* Iain Duncan Smith said plans were not intended to punish people
* But Labour said that the PM ‘had better get a grip’
For the whole article, see ‘Spare bedroom tax’ on unoccupied council house rooms could force pensioners to move into smaller homes
i see that dwp press office has tweeted -
‘Current pensioners not affected by new social housing rules now or when UC comes in. Even if one partner below pension age.’
BUT when UC comes in they will be subject to The Bedroom Tax, not protected from Council Tax rises. Will only be allowed to have savings of £16,000 and for those lucky ladies who have a younger male partner, if they retire in Jan 14 will have to wait in addition to the difference in their ages upto another 4 years until Pension Ages are equalised. So when push comes to shove it means that these pensioners get to live on less than a single persons Pension Credit for long periods of time. The SSAC had all this information, the government chose to ignore it. It was not considered “an unforeseen consequence”
“A spokesperson for the DWP said: ‘We want to reassure pensioners that they will not be affected by this policy now, or when moving from housing benefit onto universal credit, even if one partner is below pension age.’”
???????????????????
From what I have read all ‘new’ claimants will be affected if one partner is below pension age from October 2013.
It may also affect couples who at the moment do not claim pension credit due to one receiving SRP and the other ESA cb., if the 365 days of ESA ends after September they will not be able to claim via PC., would be a UC claim (if it is actually up and running!!) So, it may be worth advising to give up ESA now and getting claim on via PC. We are already aware of the higher (nearly double) rate of minimum income assessments for pensioner couples so there is sure to be an outcry. I have an interesting ESA cb/Carers Allowance case that I will post.
Unless some clever dick at the pension service refuses to allow the cancellation of ESA claims under deprivation. Never seen it myself, but other contributors to rightsnet have pointed it out
In a letter from Steve Webb dated 8th Dec 2012 he says “Those couples who are already receiving Pension Credit at the time the change is introduced will remain entitled to Pension Credit unless that entitlement ends for some other reason” - at the end of this sentence he has written ” - and we will be phasing in this change over several years”