MANCHESTER City Council has invited cities from across the country to take part in a summit to discuss the implications of the bedroom tax.
Manchester City Council also encourages people not to suffer in silence as the financial effects of the bedroom tax take hold.
All that follows is the official press release.
Representatives from cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Newcastle, Norwich and Cambridge will meet on Friday 7 June as a network of Local Government Association cities who are opposed to the tax, in order to discuss options to help support residents who have borne the brunt of the government’s housing reforms.
Manchester City Council also encourages people not to suffer in silence as the financial effects of the bedroom tax take hold. The council urges any residents who are falling into financial difficulty to seek help from their landlord or housing provider.
The city council executive have also agreed an amendment to the housing allocations policy to ensure tenants who need to downsize because they cannot afford their current property due to the bedroom tax do not impede other residents in need of priority rehousing.
Councillor Jim Battle, deputy leader of Manchester City Council said: ‘We urge any tenant who is struggling to pay their rent to contact their landlord or housing association and find out what support they can get with housing advice, managing finances and assistance with a move – even tenants looking to find work. Talk to your landlord. We will also act to amend rehousing policies to ensure Manchester people are able, where possible, to be fairly considered if they need to downsize.
‘Social landlords are there to help and advise tenants. There will be circumstances when social landlords will take repossession action – but social housing tenants are legally protected and all repossession cases will need to be heard by a county court judge before any eviction process can take place.
‘The city council will continue to oppose the government’s housing benefit reforms and will support the case to remove and protest against this very real and unfair tax.
‘As such, the city council has changed its rehousing policy to make sure that tenants suffering the blows of the bedroom tax and those people in the greatest housing need will not challenge each other for properties by having two allocation streams – one for tenants looking to downsize and one for tenants who have priority housing needs.
Manchester City Council will also be hosting a meeting with representatives of local government authorities across the country to discuss the impact of the bedroom tax and speak collectively about any future action to oppose it.’
