Under-Occupancy Penalty (No. 2)

EDM number 705 in 2013-14, proposed by Greg Mulholland on 11/11/2013.
Categorised under the topics of Housing benefits and Social rented housing.

That this House believes that the under-occupancy penalty was a mistake and should not have been introduced in the Welfare Reform Act 2012; further believes that it will not achieve the savings projected for it and that as constructed it is likely to have unforeseen consequences that will be unfair to certain groups and individuals; recognises that there is an urgent need to free up social housing to deal with the chronic shortage of social housing in many areas of the country, a legacy of the housing policies of previous Conservative and Labour administrations, including allowing people to buy council houses without replacing the stock, but nevertheless believes that the under-occupancy penalty is flawed and unacceptable in its current form; notes the perverse consequence that in some areas there are more larger properties now lying empty and with inadequate smaller housing; further believes that there should be more automatic exemptions, including for disabled and ill adults who require separate rooms for medical reasons or reasons associated with their disability; further believes that no-one should be subject to the penalty until they have refused a suitable home; further believes that councils should be given more exemptions, including where they can and wish to let houses above the recommended size without penalty to the individual or council; calls on the Department for Work and Pensions to conduct an urgent review of the policy and make changes; and further believes that if the Department refuses to do this, the policy should be scrapped altogether.

This motion has been signed by a total of 21 MPs.