HOUSING BENEFIT AND COUNCIL RENTS

Early day motion 544, tabled 2 December 1997 by Austin Mitchell (Labour). Signed by 154 members.

That this House is concerned at the unfair anomaly of relatively low income council tenants subsidising the payment of rent rebates for the poorest of their fellow council tenants, arising from the fact that an increasing number of councils, currently over 75 per cent., are compelled to divert council house rents into housing benefit for council tenants as a result of the Local Government and Housing Act 1990; condemns the principle that the poor should subsidise the poorest in this way particularly since private and housing association tenants are not asked to do the same; and urges the Government to end at the earliest possible moment a practice, which asks council tenants pay both rent and taxes to fund benefit payments by returning funding of rent rebate to central government.

Signatures by party: Labour 105, Liberal Democrat 30, Labour/Co-operative 8, Plaid Cymru 3, Scottish National Party 2, UUP 2, Conservative 1, DUP 1, Independent 1, Social Democratic and Labour Party 1.