Saturday, September 28, 2013

Tenant sues council after being hit by bedroom tax after they built him an extra room

Chris Burton, of Gunson Street, Miles Platting , has been racking up debt ever since the benefits shake-up and is now more than £200 in arrears.

He says he never wanted the ‘useless’ second room and reckons 35 other tenants will have lost out after their homes were upgraded in 2009.


Now he is appealing to a tribunal judge to rule that his benefits should be based his original tenancy agreement, which says he has only bedroom.


Mr Burton, who suffers with mobility problems and is registered disabled, said he believed the case could be a landmark for thousands of others in his situation.


He said: “It is unjust that I’m having to pay as if I have a two rooms, when my tenancy says that I have one. The extra room has been of absolutely no benefit to me.”


Mr Burton’s flat is run by social housing group Adactus on behalf of the council.


The bedroom tax – which the government calls the ‘spare room subsidy’ – means tenants lose up to 25 per cent of their housing benefit if they have unoccupied bedrooms.


Manchester council are responsible for administering the deduction but say they have no power to re-interpret the strict government guidelines.


However, housing bosses say they sympathise with the situation and have promised to cover the arrears until a solution is found. But Mr Burton, 41, says the council was wrong for lumping him in with those liable for the deduction and is also suing the council for £1,500 for the ‘stress and inconvenience’.


He added: “There are other people out there in the same situation and hopefully this will set a precedent. It could have far-reaching implications.”


The hearing will take place at the Manchester Civil Justice Centre on October 21.


A council spokesperson said: “Mr Burton has submitted an appeal against his housing benefit after his claim was reassessed due the introduction of the government’s spare room subsidy.


“We felt the circumstances that found Mr Burton at the brunt of the bedroom tax were out of his control and unfair – and we remain committed to absorbing the shortfall in his housing benefit regardless of the outcome of his appeal.”


Manchester Evening News