Rebel calls for no eviction pledge

REBEL Labour councillor Kevin Bennett has called on Warrington Borough Council to guarantee that no victim of the “bedroom tax” in the borough will be evicted.
Some 1,060 tenants of Golden Gates Housing Trust face the possibility, according to the Fairfield and Howley councillor – although the number is changing all the time, he says.
Cllr Bennett (pictured), said he had asked for the guarantee at the last meeting of the council but had been given to reply.
He said: “The ‘bedroom tax’ will have the effect of hitting some of our poorest and most vulnerable citizens.
“It will impact on the lives of disabled people, their carers and other poor and disadvantaged groups. For those who are forced to move, they will be at the mercy of private landlords and the housing benefit bill will rise due to very high rents in the private sector.”
Cllr Bennett said the council could instruct its members on housing association boards to adopt a “no evictions” policy or simply re-classify what was regarded as a bedroom.
He said: “There is no definition of a bedroom in the regulations. What constitutes a bedroom has effectively been left up to social landlords.
“I urge tenants to appeal against this and to make it as difficult as possible for the housing associations to collect this iniquitous and cruel ‘bedroom tax’.
“I therefore call on Warrington Borough Council to condemn this attack on tenants and to put pressure on the Warrington housing associations not to implement it.”