Poll shows support for removal of spare room subsidy

There is strong public support for reducing under-occupation and overcrowding in social housing, according to new independent research released last week.

In a poll conducted by Ipsos MORI, 78 per cent of respondents said they thought it was important to tackle the problem, which has led to nearly one-third of social housing tenants who receive Housing Benefit, living in homes that are too big for their needs.

In comparison, just 14 per cent disagreed, with a further nine per cent undecided.

This coincides with the latest ONS figures which show that around 375,000 households across England and Wales are living in overcrowded homes in the social rented sector.

In the past, Ministers have highlighted that around 250,000 families in England live in overcrowded social housing based on data from the English Housing Survey. But more comprehensive data from the national Census indicates that the number of overcrowded households in the social rented sector in England is higher, at just over 360,000. The Census figure for England and Wales is around 375,000.

The polling also found that 54 per cent agreed that it is fair that people of working age, who live in social housing, should receive less Housing Benefit if they have more bedrooms than they need.

Minister for Employment, Esther McVey, said: “This shows that the public agree that action was needed to tackle overcrowding and to make better use of our housing stock.

“There were approaching 1 million spare bedrooms being paid for by Housing Benefit, yet at the same time hundreds of thousands of families living in overcrowded social housing. This disparity was unfair and had to be addressed.

“On top of this we have seen our Housing Benefit bill exceed £24 billion - an increase of 50 per cent in just ten years - and this had to be brought under control.”