Govan Law Centre to draft Bill to prevent vulnerable Scots being evicted for bedroom tax arrears

Glasgow's Govan Law Centre (GLC) is delighted to announce that it's 'No Evictions for Bedroom Tax Arrears petition' will now be taken forward as a Member's Bill in the Scottish Parliament. The sponsoring member is Jackie Baillie, the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Welfare and MSP for Dumbarton. GLC has agreed to provide full legal and policy support in the drafting of the proposed legislation and accompanying documents.

'Under-occupancy deductions' are losing tenants of councils and housing associations in Scotland £12 per week on average, with some tenants losing as much as £22 per week in housing benefit. Around 105,000 households in Scotland are affected by the bedroom tax, of which 80% contain a person with a disability.

When it comes to Scottish rent arrears eviction actions in sheriff courts, often the success or failure of a tenant in preventing eviction will turn on a few pounds per week, for example the standard payment for arrears direct is £3.55 per week. Accordingly, £12 to £22 per week being deducted from rent payments under the bedroom tax creates the perfect storm for a major increase in evictions and homelessness in Scotland, as tenants are unable to downsize or find extra money from very low incomes.

Govan Law Centre's Chairman, Tommy McMahon said: "Govan Law Centre has suggested a small amendment to section 16 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 which would prevent 'bedroom tax rent arrears' being used to establish or justify a crave for eviction, and instead the landlord could obtain a payment decree for these 'type of arrears', and pursue them an ordinary debt".

"We are very grateful that Jackie Baillie MSP has agreed to champion this law reform proposal, and stand up for Scotland's most vulnerable tenants. It makes no economic sense to evict tenants, disabled people and children for bedroom tax arrears when they cannot downsize to a smaller property in practice, obtain a smaller specially adapted home, or find an extra £50 per month from breadline benefits. The Scottish Parliament has the power to protect tenants from the bedroom tax and it's time to act'.

GLC is also supporting the calls - along with Shelter Scotland and many others - on the Scottish Government to find £50m for social landlords to off-set the impact of the bedroom tax.

GLC cautions against presuming non-payment of bedroom tax arrears leads to 'intentional homelessness'

A number of recent housing articles and commentators have suggested that where a tenant is evicted due to the inability to pay rent due to under-occupancy (bedroom tax) deductions, they will 'usually be classified as intentionally homeless', and not be entitled to alternative accommodation as a homeless person. This is not a correct statement of the law in Scotland or England, Wales or Northern Ireland.

The statutory intentional homelessness test requires a deliberate act or omission in consequence of which accommodation is lost. This essentially requires local authorities to consider the issue of fault. For example, in the English Court of Appeal case of William v. London Borough of Wandsworth the court expressed this test as follows:

"I accept, of course, that it was for the authority to explain why it took the view that the failure to pay monies due under the mortgage was 'deliberate' within the meaning of section 191(1) of the 1996 Act: or, to put the point the other way, why the failure to pay monies due under the mortgage was not properly to be treated as 'non-deliberate' – in the sense that it was forced upon the applicant through no fault of his own" (at para 36, [2006] EWCA Civ 535).

Where a tenant is paying rent (by way of housing benefit) but accrues rent arrears due to the effect of the bedroom tax and is unable to take any reasonable steps to avoid this, then there would be a strong presumption that this was not the 'fault' of the tenant. If so, a tenant in such circumstances who lost their home should not be deemed intentionally homeless. There is ample authority for this principle, for example:

In R v. Tower Hamlets London Borough Council ex parte Mahmood a council tenant was evicted for arrears.  She was found to have become homeless intentionally. Sir Louis Blom-Cooper Q.C quashed the council’s decision as it failed to indicate whether the council had found that Ms Mahmood deliberately failed to pay her rent – as opposed to being in multiple debt and unable to pay.

R v. Tower Hamlets London Borough Council ex parte Ullah (1992) 24 HLR 680 was a case where an owner occupier in multiple debt sold his house to repay debts: insufficient enquiries were made into the necessity of this course of action and a decision of intentional homelessness was quashed by the court.

Tenants in the South and North East of Glasgow can contact Govan Law Centre's Prevention of Homelessness team for further advice and where possible legal representation: (t) 0141 440 2503.

Govan Law Centre to defend bedroom tax evictions across Scotland

With over 105,000 households in Scotland affected by the bedroom tax - and with 79% of households having either a disabled tenant or resident - Govan Law Centre (GLC) has pledged to defend bedroom tax evictions across Scotland.

Over the last year GLC has led the campaign in Scotland against evictions for bedroom tax arrears with its law reform petition, now calling before the Scottish Parliament on 25 June 2013.

GLC's Principal Solicitor, Mike Dailly said: "GLC's Prevention of Homelessness team has led the way with our bedroom tax toolkit which is being used by tens of thousands of tenants, law centres and advice agencies across the UK. GLC is preparing judicial review cases on behalf of its clients in Glasgow and will be challenging the legality of the Department of Works and Pension's under-occupancy housing benefit cuts".

"As a campaigning community law centre in Scotland, GLC will not sit by and watch tenants evicted because of the bedroom tax, and today we pledge that our Principal Solicitor, Mike Dailly, and our team of housing law solicitors and prevention of homelessness caseworkers will defend and protect tenants across Scotland from evictions for bedroom tax arrears where possible".

If any advice agency requires specialist legal representation for free please contact GLC on 0141 440 2503, and where possible our Principal Solicitor will defend for free. For tenants in Renfrewshire we are working with Renfrewshire Law Centre who will represent you for free in bedroom tax arrears eviction cases.

Scots face postcode eviction lottery from Scottish Government approach; 150,000 Scots denied protection from bedroom tax evictions

Scotland's Housing Minister has written to the Scottish Parliament's Petitions Committee rejecting GLC's call for legislation to prevent bedroom tax evictions in Scotland, and instead has suggested the approach of Dundee City Council (DCC) is to be preferred.

The temporary one year approach of DCC involves not evicting council tenants for bedroom tax arrears 'where the Director of Housing is satisfied that affected tenants are doing all they can be reasonably expected to in order to avoid falling into arrears'.

GLC believes DCC's approach is a step in the right direction - albiet we prefer an independent and impartial court based solution  - but remain puzzled as to how the Scottish Government can on the one hand support DCC's approach to no evictions for bedroom tax arrears, yet fail to ensure that all tenants of social landlords enjoy the same approach in Scotland? 

Only a handful of Scotland's councils have agreed to the approach embraced by the Housing Minister, which means there are approximately 150,000 Scots who reside in tenancies in the social rented sector exposed to a postcode eviction lottery from the bedroom tax. Many of these Scots are particulary vulnerable through disabilities, physical or mental ill-health, or financial exclusion.

None of the half a million or so Scots who reside in housing association properties are being offered any protection against bedroom tax eviction from the Scottish Government DCC approach, nor are the vast majority of council tenants in Scotland offered any hope - despite the fact, the Scottish Government could easily legislate to provide the same protection for all Scots in the social rented sector, which the Housing Minister believes is right and proper for a handful of council tenants to currently enjoy.

GLC believes that the Scottish Government has a responsibility to ensure that all tenants of social landlords in Scotland enjoy the same equality of protection against eviction for bedroom tax arrears; and that at the very least, the Scottish Ministers should use their powers to ensure all such tenants have the same equality of protection which the Housing Minister's supports in her letter to the Petitions Committee.

GLC informační průvodce - Govan Law Centre publishes its 'Challenge the Bedroom Tax Toolkit' in Czech

Govan Law Centre (GLC) has published its highly successful 'Bedroom Tax Toolkit' in Czech, and is distributing the Czech version of its toolkit through Govanhill Law Centre to assist members of the EU migrant worker communities in Glasgow. The Czech version of GLC's bedroom tax toolkit is freely available here.

GLC's 'Challenging the Bedroom tax Toolkit', aims to provide people with a means to utilise their rights of review and appeal in law, in terms of changes in the eligibility rules to UK housing benefit from the new 'under-occupancy' rules, which came into force last month.  

The GLC bedroom tax toolkit was developed to protect our clients and other tenants across the UK, including in terms of the 'anti-test case' social security rules, whereby if future legal challenges to the bedroom tax were successful (there are over 10 judicial reviews ongoing across the UK at present) people would be able to receive back payments, subject to any successful court challenge.

GLC has been careful not to give false hope to people; we are empowering and enabling people to act upon their human rights to challenge bedroom tax and housing benefit decisions. Legal arguments are untested, although there are some decisions which point in the favour of disabled tenants in particular in the UK.

GLC's toolkit has been e-mailed to over 7,000 people across the UK by us directly, and has been distributed many times more through social media and online resources, and is available through a number of advice agency websites, including Shelter Scotland, Shelter Wales and Birmingham Law Centre.

GLC to discuss impact of bedroom tax for Scots with learning disabilities at Scottish Parliament

Govan Law Centre (GLC) will address members of the Scottish Parliament's Cross-Party Group for Learning Disability this afternoon on the impact of the 'bedroom tax' on Scots with learning disabilities.

The Cross-Party Group chaired by Jackie Baillie MSP, Convenor, and Jim Eadie MSP, Deputy Convenor, will be provided with an update on GLC's 'No eviction for bedroom tax' campaign - which is due to call again before the Parliament's Petitions Committee on Tuesday 25 June 2013 - and a report on the uptake across Scotland and the UK of GLC's Challenge the Bedroom Tax 'Toolkit'. 

The Parliamentary Group will be presented with real life examples of casework from GLC's Alistair Sharp and Gary Burns. Our case studies aim to highlight the particular issues surrounding those with a learning disability in relation to the bedroom tax. We will highlight the recurring issues and particular problems facing someone with learning difficulties, and what organisations can do in order to offer support in relation to the bedroom tax and other welfare reform. 

GLC aims to demonstrate how people with learning difficulties may have problems in asserting their legal rights, and in many cases may require coordinated access to other agencies. GLC will explain how small changes to an agency's practice can help provide positive solutions and better outcomes for Scots with learning disabilities.

Govan Law Centre challenges bedroom tax decisions before 1 April 2013 and poor advice by local authorities

Govan Law Centre is concerned that many local authorities in Scotland, and across the United Kingdom, have been issuing 'bedroom tax ' decision letters to tenants before the under-occupancy changes to UK housing benefit law came into force on 1 April 2013 (regulation 5).  We are currently challenging this practice and will provide progress updates on this blog in due course.

GLC is also aware that some local authorities in Scotland and England have wrongly advised tenants that they cannot appeal a decision to reduce their housing benefit because of the bedroom tax - that advice is wrong, and any such refusal would be unlawful, as decisions to reduce housing benefit are subject to review and appeal in terms of the Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit (Decisions and Appeals) Regulations, as amended, in the normal way.

Many councils - including Glasgow City Council - have issued tenants across the UK with decision letters reducing their housing benefit in light of the new 'B13' bedroom tax regulation (see also here for a consolidated set of the 2006 Housing Benefit Regulations as amended) in February and March of this year. In general, tenants have one month to seek a review and/or appeal of a housing benefit decision (unless they have grounds for a late appeal), but many tenants will have only been aware of their rights relatively recently - for example GLC's bedroom tax toolkit was only published earlier this month.

However, the 2006 Housing Benefit regulations make it clear that 'a change in circumstances' which affects entitlement (in this case, deductions from the commencement of the bedroom tax on 1 April 2013) 'shall take effect from the first day of the benefit week following the date on which the change of circumstances actually occurs' (see reg 79 of the 2006 regulations as amended).

Reg 90 of the 2006 regulations makes it clear that decision letters should be intimated to tenants 'forthwith, or as soon as reasonably practicable thereafter, or within 14 days of that decision'. The English courts have generally held if a defective decision letter does not cause prejudice to the claimant then its validity should be upheld; however, if local authorities refuse to review bedroom tax decisions issued before 1 April 2013 by claiming the tenant's dispute letter is too late, there would be grounds to argue the council had indeed caused prejudice to the tenant.

The DWP's own guidance on the bedroom tax (HB/CTB Circular A4/2012) advises local authorities not to issue bedroom tax decisions before 1 April: 'As an award notice cannot be sent before the legislation comes in to force, you may wish to combine this notification with the annual review letter in April to avoid multiple communications' (see para 25). There is therefore little doubt that many local authorities have acted prematurely.

What should you do?
If you feel aggrieved by a reduction in your housing benefit because of the bedroom tax and believe you are entitled to the use of all of your bedrooms on human right grounds, download GLC's bedroom tax toolkit and challenge your council's decision - you still have time to do this, and if your decision letter was issued in February or March, use the arguments above to say why your challenge is not late.

Launch of GLC 'toolkit guide' calling for mass take-up challenge to bedroom tax housing benefit decisions

Govan Law Centre has launched a free 'toolkit guide' to help tenants challenge cuts to their housing benefit with the introduction of the bedroom tax from this month.  Tenants issued with a ‘bedroom tax’ decision by their local council only have one month to challenge it. They can only appeal later than this if they have a good reason for the delay, such as illness.

GLC's toolkit contains a number of untested legal arguments which tenants can select and insert into a pro forma ‘Dispute Form’. Some of these relate to court challenges taking place in England and Wales, and if these are successful tenants can only benefit from them for past deductions if they have lodged a ‘Dispute Form’ with their council because of the 'anti-test case rules'.

GLC’s toolkit provides step by step guidance and illustrations on how to complete a ‘Dispute Form’ – what to say, where to send it to, where you can get further advice, what will happen next.  We hope the toolkit will be of assistance to both tenants and advisors alike. We believe many tenants will have grounds in principle to challenge

If you would like a copy of GLC’s toolkit guide please visit our webpage here, and we will provide you with the option to download the toolkit in either PDF or rich text formats, and in addition we will e-mail you the links to download it too. We are asking for the first part of your postcode so that we can work out the level of take up across the country.

Although our guide is aimed specifically at Scotland for simplicity, the guidance and pro forma guidance is equally applicable in England and Wales as housing benefit is a UK-wide law, and the arguments for challenging the bedroom tax are also UK-wide.

GLC welcomes First Minister's commitment to 'No evictions for bedroom tax' but warns of a post-code bedroom tax eviction lottery in Scotland

The First Minister, Alex Salmond MSP announced today that all SNP-led local authorities would embrace a 'no evictions for bedroom tax' policy, ensuring that where tenants were paying their rent but struggling to cope with the bedroom tax, they would not be evicted by their local authority landlord.

This policy approach was first proposed in Scotland by Govan Law Centre, and our 'No evictions for bedroom tax' campaign has since been backed by a wide range of civic bodies in Scotland including the STUC, Oxfam, Shelter Scotland, tenants bodies, mental health charities and almost 5,000 signatures to our petition to the Scottish Parliament.

The SNP currently lead nine of Scotland's 32 local authorities although they only have a majority in one council, Dundee City Council, which has already implemented a 12 month 'No evictions for bedroom tax' policy.

GLC welcomes the First Minister's commitment to the 'No evictions for bedroom tax' campaign, but notes that the Scottish Government has the power to require all of Scotland's 32 local authorities and 183 registered social landlord housing associations and co-operatives to embrace the same policy which the First Minister has today embraced and approved.

GLC believes it would be grossly unfair for only some tenants to benefit from this policy in Scotland while others do not. We do not believe that a 'post-code bedroom tax eviction lottery' is in the Scottish public interest. We hope that the Scottish Government will embrace the need to ensure that all tenants in the social rented sector in Scotland benefit from a 'No evictions for bedroom tax' policy.

GLC welcomes Housing Minister's advice on bedroom tax and apparent support for the principle of 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears''

Govan Law Centre (GLC) has welcomed the Scottish Housing Minister's advice for landlords on the bedroom tax, which the Scottish Government has announced today.  In particular, GLC is pleased to see Housing Minister, Margaret Burgess, encourage social landlords to work with local authorities on the reclassification of 'bedrooms' where appropriate to mitigate the impact of the bedroom tax.

This was a legal issue which GLC on behalf of the Glasgow Advice Agency Ltd (GAA) had obtained the opinion of senior counsel over a month ago, and which GAA had expressly called for the Scottish Government to utlise as a practical strategy to minimse the application of under-occupancy charges, especially where a household had a disabled person. We support the Minister's helpful words of encouragement to social landlords' today:

"There are also circumstances where a bedroom’s classification may be changed and tenants not penalised. Again, I would encourage landlords to consider this possibility and work with their local authority if at all possible".

GLC also welcomes the Minister's endorsement of Dundee City Council's 'No eviction for bedroom tax arrears' policy, which we believe is a very progressive initiative based upon the exact same principle as our 'No eviction for bedroom tax arrears' campaign. The Dundee City Council policy will last for 12 months and guarantees that no tenant who is doing their best to pay their rent arrears will be evicted for bedroom tax arrears. The Minister's statement on this issue is reproduced below, and GLC hopes that the Scottish Government will reconsider its position on amending section 16 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 in light of its apparent support for Dundee's no evictions for bedroom tax policy.

The Scottish Housing Minister said today: "You may wish to be aware of the policy adopted by Dundee City Council which I believe provides a useful template to protect tenants who genuinely cannot make up the shortfall in rent caused by the bedroom tax. The Council has committed that, where the Director of Housing is satisfied that affected tenants are doing all that can be reasonably expected to in order to avoid falling into arrears, they will use all legitimate means to collect rent due, except eviction. I would encourage you to consider this as a mechanism to protect the most vulnerable of your tenants.”

Scottish Government provide flawed reasoning and no evidence to reject the principle of 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears'

Addressing a packed roundtable meeting of Scottish community groups, trade unionists and representatives of civic Scotland bodies organised by the Scottish Trade Union Congress (STUC) tonight, Govan Law Centre set out why it believed the Scottish Government had based its decision to reject the 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears' campaign on flawed reasoning and without any evidence.

The Scottish Government set out its position on why it would not amend section 16 of the 2001 Housing (Scotland) Act to prevent evictions caused by under-occupancy deductions to housing benefit during General Question Time in the Scottish Parliament today (the BBC Scotland video of GQT is below).

Govan Law Centre's analysis of the reasoning put forward by the Scottish Government today can be read here, and these points were discussed at the STUC this evening, where all participants very strongly rallied around the principle of 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears' in Scotland.

GLC hopes that the Scottish Government will reconsider its position here, and take the opportunity to ingather empirical evidence, as well as taking evidence on the proposal from Scottish community representatives, trade unions, disability rights campaigners, advice agencies and civic Scotland.

Civic Scotland organisations unite for law reform to protect tenants against bedroom tax evictions

Oxfam, Govan Law Centre, Shelter Scotland, Money Advice Scotland, the Carrington Dean Group and Glasgow Central Citizens Advice Bureaux have come together to support a campaign film calling on the Scottish Government and Parliament to prevent Scottish tenants being evicted for bedroom tax arrears.

The campaigners are calling for section 16 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to be amended so that bedroom tax arrears are treated as an ordinary debt in law, and not as rent arrears which would constitute grounds or evidence for eviction. The new campaign film explains the expected impact of the 'bedroom tax', and the concerns that advice agencies and anti-poverty charities in Scotland have in relation to increased evictions and homelessness in Scotland.

The campaign film asks for people to sign and support the 'No evictions for bedroom tax' petition in the Scottish Parliament - which is online here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/bedroomtax  (anyone, anywhere can sign this, and you do not have to be in Scotland or the UK to do so).  The 'Amend section 16' campaign film can be watched below.

Oxfam Scotland backs 'No evictions for bedroom tax' campaign in Scotland

Oxfam Scotland is backing a change in the law that will help tenants affected by the controversial cuts to housing benefit stay in their homes in Scotland. The charity, which works with partners in Scotland to fight poverty and create sustainable livelihoods, is supporting a petition to the Scottish Parliament by Govan Law Centre (GLC), calling for an amendment to existing housing law.

The amendment will mean that rent arrears caused by the so-called 'Bedroom Tax' can't be used as grounds for eviction by social landlords like councils or housing associations. Government changes to housing benefit mean that, from April, people who are judged to have a 'spare room' will face a massive 14% cut in the support they get to keep a roof over their heads. Those with two 'spare rooms' will face a 25% cut.

Judith Robertson, Head of Oxfam Scotland, said: "Last year our Humankind Index for Scotland found that an affordable, decent and safe home is the top priority for Scots across the country. But housing benefit cuts will put thousands of people at risk of losing their homes. People on low incomes are already struggling.

"We recognise that social landlords are being placed in a difficult situation by these housing benefit cuts, but our priority surely has to be to keep families in their homes. The change in the law proposed by Govan Law Centre will help make sure that happens.

"We hope MSPs will support the petition, and we hope the UK Government realises the enormous damage these cuts will have on people."
 
 GLC's Principal Solicitor, Mike Dailly, said: "We are delighted that a leading global anti-poverty charity has decided to back our 'No Evictions for Bedroom Tax' petition in the Scottish Parliament.

"Oxfam's support for our Scottish campaign underlines the seriousness of the situation, with the prospect of tens of thousands of low income households in Scotland being threatened with homelessness unless they can find extra money for rent, and many families being pushed into destitution and poverty.

"We believe the Scottish Parliament has devolved powers which could be used to significantly mitigate the adverse impact of these changes to housing benefit, and hope that MSPs will join civic Scotland in supporting our No Evictions campaign".

Money Advice Scotland back 'No evictions for bedroom tax'in Scotland' campaign

GLC is delighted to announce that Money Advice Scotland has agreed to back the 'No evictions for bedroom tax in Scotland' petition and campaign. The petition to the Scottish Parliament now has 1,066 signatures since going live at the weekend, and is growing every day. You can sign the petition here.

Money Advice Scotland (MAS) is the national umbrella organisation in Scotland which promotes the development of free, independent, impartial, confidential money (debt) advice and financial inclusion. 

MAS serves a membership of over 200 members organisations and individuals drawn from local authorities, CABx, and other voluntary projects, who all provide money advice. Other members who are supportive of our objectives include Insolvency Practitioners, creditor and debt collection organisations.

GLC believes that the bedroom tax is the new poll tax in Scotland, and that bedroom tax arrears of rent should be treated as an ordinary debt in Scots law, so that tenants do not have to suffer the pain, suffering and indignity of bring evicted from their home because of the bedroom tax.

GLC calls for action on 'Bedroom tax' from Holyrood

The Scottish Parliament has been asked to change the law to prevent tenants being evicted because of changes to housing benefit. Speaking on BBC 1's Sunday Politics Scotland show, Mike Dailly of the Govan Law Centre said that people could be homeless because of the UK government reforms.  He said Holyrood should act to minimise the consequences of the change.

But, talking on the same programme, SNP MSP Linda Fabiani claimed little could be done until the Scottish parliament has more powers. The changes to housing benefit are intended to encourage mobility by discouraging tenants from staying in homes deemed too large for their needs. Mr Dailly said: "This is the new poll tax in Scotland. It's a vicious attack on the low paid and poor." 

The law on benefits is a reserved matter, controlled by the UK parliament at Westminster, but Mr Dailly said Holyrood could change the law in areas that it does control. "The Scottish government can do a lot to prevent people from being evicted. We are calling on is for the Scottish Government to change housing law so that if you incur 'bedroom tax' arrears that should be treated as an ordinary debt but not allow you to be evicted," he suggested.
 

You can sign GLC's Scottish Parliament petition for 'No eviction for bedroom tax' here. Almost 500 people have signed the petition within 48 hours of the petition going live on the Parliament website. The Sunday Politics Scotland show is available on the iPlayer here (41 mins in). Read more on this story from the BBC. 

We can stop evictions for bedroom tax if you sign this petition

GLC's petition in the Scottish Parliament for 'No evictions for bedroom tax arrears' is now online, and we would be grateful if you would consider supporting same by adding your signature here: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/GettingInvolved/Petitions/bedroomtax  Please circulate this link to your friends, family and colleagues and ask them to sign too. The bedroom tax is the new poll tax, but it is much worse than that.

Housing benefit under-occupancy provisions - 'the bedroom tax' for tenants in the social rented sector are introduced by section 69 of the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and the (draft) Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2012, from April 2013.  These provisions will see tenants of councils and RSLs in Scotland lose on average £ l12 per week, with some tenants losing as much as £22 per week in housing benefit. There is widespread concern in Scotland that these changes will cause major detriment to thousands of households in Scotland.

The DWP estimate 660,000 claimants will be affected across the UK, and the Chartered Institute of Housing in Scotland suggest as many as 95,000 tenants could be affected in Scotland.[1] 

When it comes to Scottish rent arrears eviction actions in sheriff courts, often the success or failure of a tenant in preventing eviction will turn on a few pounds per week, for example the standard payment for arrears direct is £3.55 per week. Accordingly, the prospect of £12 to £22 per week being deducted from rent payments under the bedroom tax from next April means Scotland's law centres and advice sector will be unable to defend many eviction cases in practice. 

We are suggesting a minor amendment to section 16 of the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 (as follows) which would prevent 'bedroom tax rent arrears' being used to establish or justify a crave for eviction, and instead the landlord could obtain a payment decree for these 'type of arrears', and pursue them an ordinary debt. 

We do not believe the bedroom tax is fair or morally justifiable for the following reasons:

• Arrears accrued by tenants due to the ‘bedroom tax’ from April 2013 are not the ‘fault’ of social rented sector tenants, and therefore using such arrears to establish or make out a case for eviction must be unfair and unreasonable as matter of principle and social policy.

• The DWP’s Impact Assessment accepts there are insufficient smaller properties for tenants to downsize to, and therefore many tenants will have no realistic alternatives other than to accrue rent arrears from the bedroom tax.

• The public cost to accommodate a family made homelessness is on average £24,000 per case , which would place major pressure on local authorities and the NHS in Scotland in a time of budget cuts, and therefore the need to prevent eviction from the bedroom tax is in the wider public interest.

• Given the imminent nature of the cuts, and the lack of practical solutions available to tenants, there is a cogent case for providing social tenants with a longer transitional period, and a guarantee that they will not be evicted due to these reforms in the short to medium term.

• Ultimately, many social landlords in Scotland are already taking proactive action to mitigate against these forthcoming housing benefit cuts, and have no desire to evict tenants because of the cuts. However, RSLs and councils are subject to public audit and have a duty to pursue rent arrears as a matter of law, and in terms of their regulatory supervision. Accordingly, this amendment would assist social landlords, by ensuring they could only pursue bedroom tax arrears by way of ordinary debt recovery (payment actions, followed by ordinary diligence). 

[1] http://www.cih.org/resources/PDF/Scotland%20Policy%20Pdfs/Bedroom%20Tax/Bedroom%20Tax%20Final.pdf

Shelter Scotland and STUC endorse 'No eviction for bedroom tax' campaign

GLC is delighted that Shelter Scotland and the STUC have endorsed the principles of the 'No eviction for bedroom tax' campaign, which is already supported by local tenants and residents in Glasgow, following two public meetings in Govan.

GLC had suggested the need for urgent minor law reform amendment to implement a 'No eviction for bedroom tax' policy in Scotland, upon the basis the bedroom tax cuts would be affecting tenants within 4 months or so, and Scotland needed a new safety net otherwise we would be unable to prevent evictions based on rent arrears caused by the bedroom tax.

Many defended eviction actions in court can often turn on £3.55 per week payments to arrears, and with £12 to £22 per week being deducted from housing benefit it could become almost impossible to defend such eviction actions in the near future.

GLC has suggested bedroom tax rent arrears could be pursued as an ordinary debt, and should not be founded upon as a ground of eviction or to establish the reasonableness of local authority and housing association evictions. Such a policy could either be considered on a permanent or transitional basis with a sunset clause.

The support from Shelter Scotland and the STUC to this proposal is very welcome and will help forge much wider civic Scottish support to the 'No eviction for bedroom tax' campaign.

UK 'bedroom tax': GLC calls for Scottish solutions to prevent homelessness and human misery for tens of thousands

GLC is calling on the Scottish Government to set up an additional, special fund in Scotland to mitigate the impact of next April's 'bedroom tax' where tenants of councils and housing associations will face cuts of 14 to 25% in their housing benefit where they are deemed to have an extra bedroom or more.

In an address to a public meeting of tenants in Glasgow's *Pearce Institute, GLC's Principal Solicitor Mike Dailly also called upon Scottish local authorities and the Scottish Government to set up 'Homelessness Prevention Funds' where tenants can borrow small loans interest free to stave of homelessness.  Such schemes have already been successful in some parts of England.


He also called upon the Scottish Government to support an amendment to the Housing (Scotland) Act 2001 to prevent social landlords relying upon rent arrears accrued through the bedroom tax being founded upon in court actions for eviction – such debts could be pursued through other civil debt recovery routes. Such a measure could be implemented on a transitional basis to ensure Scottish tenants had sufficient time to explore all options, given it was physically impossible for all tenants to downsize due the lack of alternative accommodation in the social rented sector.

Mike said: "Where are Scottish tenants expected to go? The private rented sector has already expanded and the Scottish Government has helped this by allowing homelessness duties to be met by them. But private landlords when interviewed about their planned responses to housing benefit cuts have not said they will increase supply by building more houses; rather they will sub-divide existing houses, often former council houses”.

“It is incredible to think that the UK Government is going back to the future – recreating the conditions for the emergence of high cost slum housing – by driving people into smaller and more cramped homes as they tax the low paid and poor. The return of the ‘single end’. Victorian values recreating Victorian housing conditions”.

The text of Mike’s talk is available online here (opens as a PDF) * on the evening of Thursday 18 October 2012.

* UPDATE - the next Glasgow meeting on housing benefit cuts will take place in the Pearce Institute, Govan Road, Glasgow at 7pm on 27 November 2012. All welcome. Confirmed speakers include Johann Lamont MSP, Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Dave Moxham, Deputy General Secretary of the STUC, Mike Dailly, GLC, and John Flanagan, Chair of Govan Housing Association, with further MSPs and councillors tbc. Organised by tenants and residents associations in Govan and Linthouse.