Letter to North Devon Journal from Pam and Toby Ebert

Dear Editor

A UN inspector recently visited the UK to look at the state of housing in this country.  She was shocked at what she found.  Considering that we live in the sixth richest country in the world it is amazing that we 
can't properly house our people.

The inspector found that the single worst policy affecting housing was the bedroom tax, where people on housing benefit deemed to have 'spare' rooms have some of their housing benefit taken away.  The government wants these people to move to smaller homes so that some housing benefit 
can be saved.  In fact, this policy is causing more problems than it is solving.

Government sources admit that most of the people affected by the bedroom tax can't move to a smaller house or flat.  This may be because there is nothing smaller in the area where they live, work and school 
their children.  Or, if they are disabled, their existing home may have been specially adapted to cater for their needs.

It is worth noting that one third of the people affected by the bedroom tax are disabled.  Surely it is incredible that the UK cannot afford to look after disabled people in their own homes.

The UN inspector recommended that the bedroom tax should be scrapped at once, and, in the longer term, more social housing built and private rents should be controlled.  Very sensible too.  The Labour Party has 
committed itself to doing the first two of these things.

Thousands of people are being asked to uproot themselves from their communities, from their jobs, their childrens' schools/colleges.  There have been tragic cases reported in the national press of people evicted 
from their homes because they couldn't afford the bedroom tax:  a diabetic who used the spare room for his dialysis equipment;  a couple whose son, serving in the forces, had been killed in action; a couple 
whose child had died.

The government is making the poorest people in society, the disabled and those on housing benefit, pay for the mistakes and greed of the richest, including the bankers who caused the financial crisis.

Welcome to the world of compassionate Conservatives (Geoffrey Cox MP) and caring Lib Dems (Nick Harvey MP).

Regards, Toby and Pam Ebert