Petitions Committee Bedroom Tax 2

The SFHA, Scottish Government and ALACHO were recently approached by the Petitions Committee following the receipt of the petition from the 'Bin the Bedroom Tax 2' campaign, headed by Sean Clerkin.

In its submission, the SFHA pointed to the huge disparity of Local Housing Allowance rates in different parts of the country, compared to the narrow range of rents charged by housing associations.

Sarah Boyack, SFHA's Head of Public Affairs, said: “LHA rates do not reflect the fact that social housing rents are based on the cost of provision, standards and services.

“Housing associations charge rents on the basis of the quality of services to tenants. Some tenants may pay a higher rent but have benefited from energy efficiency investment giving them lower energy bills. LHA takes no account of this.

“We suggested that the Scottish Government should use its powers to vary the housing cost elements of Universal Credit to mitigate the arbitrary nature of LHA rates which do not reflect the cost of providing services to tenants. We believe that the LHA should be replaced by a Social Housing Allowance.”