House of Commons – Feb. 27, 2013 – 167

I beg to move, That this House deplores and opposes the Government’s introduction of the housing benefit under-occupancy penalty;

believes it to be unjust and unworkable;

notes growing public anger at its introduction;

believes that the Government is showing a reckless lack of care and attention to the consequences of its introduction for low-income households affected by disability;

further believes that it will adversely affect, amongst others, families of service personnel, foster families and those struggling with the effects of family breakdown;

notes that some parts of the UK will be disproportionately hit because of the mismatch between the available social housing stock and the needs of tenants;

further notes that according to the Department for Work and Pensions’ Equality Impact Assessment, 63 per cent of the 660,000 claimants affected by the under-occupancy penalty or their partners are disabled;

believes that the measure unfairly penalises tenants in rural and inner-city areas;

further believes the under-occupancy penalty will fail to meet its stated objectives;

and calls on the Government to abandon this policy immediately.