One in three tenants renting from either Dundee City Council or one of the local housing associations is having to pay the bedroom tax, The Courier can reveal.
It has also emerged that more than 19,400 people in Dundee this year are receiving housing benefit, a rise of 3% on 2012, which equates to one in four households in the city being dependent on the benefit.
The introduction of the so-called bedroom tax means those renting a home with more bedrooms than the Government believes they need have had their housing benefit reduced by either 14% or 25% since April 1.
A paper presented to councillors in February by the finance and corporate services manager estimated 3,333 households would be affected. More than 10,000 households are claiming housing benefit.
Brian Gordon, the Labour Group’s housing spokesperson said: “I am staggered at the scale of this crisis. I have had concerned constituents contact me in total despair, desperate to find a way out.
“Only yesterday, a constituent told me about how she receives £282 employment support allowance per month to live on and she is expected to pay £62 rent off this per month to the council to cover the bedroom tax.
“We know the UK Coalition Government will not reverse these changes, so I am calling on the convener of housing, Councillor John Alexander, to request emergency funding from the Scottish Government to protect our tenants as devolution was designed for moments like this.”
Labour councillor Lesley Brennan, who works as an economist, said the latest Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) figure for housing benefit claimants up to February shows the number of households receiving this benefit has jumped up by 3% to 19,494 on last year’s figure.
She said: “To put it another way, just over one-in-four households in Dundee rely on the Department of Work and Pensions to keep a roof over their heads.
“For Scotland as a whole, the similar figure is one-in-five. Dundee has the third-highest percentage of households claiming housing benefit in Scotland.”
Kevin Keenan said: “I think the council’s own committee paper makes alarming reading when you look at the number of benefit claimants we have in the city for a number of reasons, such as welfare reform.
“The paper highlights the lack of positive employment opportunities within the city and the 3% increase in housing benefit claimants that you’ve uncovered is extremely concerning.”
Mr Alexander responded: “The SNP has consistently voted and campaigned against this policy, has confirmed that they would reverse this in an independent Scotland and has provided additional funding to support those affected by the bedroom tax.
“I’m hugely concerned about this increase and the detrimental impact the bedroom tax is having on people in this city and I’m seeing an increase in constituents contacting me.
“At a time when austerity is already punishing the poor and the vulnerable, this policy, alongside the other looming welfare reforms, is causing real hardship for people. This UK Government policy must be scrapped. It’s unworkable, unethical and is a financial straitjacket on those already struggling.
“The Scottish Government has provided additional funding to various organisations to assist in dealing with the bedroom tax, including £5.4 million earlier in the year and £2.5m more recently to social landlords.
“The UK Government controls the purse strings and must answer for this to provide the Scottish Government with funding to alleviate the impact of the bedroom tax.”