No Ashfield evictions due to bedroom tax

Campaigns and petitions against the introduction of bedroom tax happened in Ashfield last year.

Ashfield District Council says that it has worked closely with Ashfield Homes to manage the situation after identifying 922 residents who were affected by the new under occupancy rules brought in as part of the Government’s welfare reform.

These rules state that people will have their benefits cut if they are considered to have a ‘spare bedroom’ in their council-owned property.

Council chiefs have met with other local authorities to see how different policies work and then adapted the best of these for Ashfield.

A number of measures have been implemented to help Ashfield tenants cope with the change, including:

An expanded Money Management service to assist tenants with budgeting

An additional Housing Management Advisor working specifically on welfare reform issues with tenants

The adoption of a ‘Move Assist’ policy which helps tenants who wish to downsize and avoid bedroom tax.

Council leader Chris Baron said: “I am delighted that as a result of this partnership work we have been able to ensure that nobody has been taken to court or evicted as a result of the bedroom tax and we will continue to support the people of Ashfield wherever needed.

“We will continue with our policy to prevent evictions wherever possible.”