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Bedroom tax 'leading to homelessness' in Scotland

THE hated bedroom tax is keeping homeless people on the streets, Scottish housing workers said yesterday.

A Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) survey showed two-thirds of members had seen an increase in the number of tenants looking to move into smaller homes to avoid the tax.

And 26 per cent believed that the work created by reshuffling tenants into slightly smaller homes had impacted upon their ability to rehouse homeless households.

A fifth of housing associations had seen homeless families refuse an offer of permanent housing because of the bedroom tax.

SFHA policy manager David Ogilvie said they were “seriously concerned” about the impact on homeless households.

“It’s abundantly clear that the odds of these households being able to secure and sustain a suitable tenancy are being increasingly stacked against them,” he said.

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman insisted there was “no evidence that welfare reforms are leading to an increase in homelessness.”

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