The Bedroom Tax is a cruel and unfair measure that hits over 400,000 disabled people.

 For the vast majority of those affected, there is nowhere smaller to move to, hitting vulnerable people through no fault of their own. There is now a real risk that the Bedroom Tax will cost more money than it saves.

The next Labour Government will repeal the Bedroom Tax. But we are clear that there cannot be extra borrowing to pay for social security changes.

So to ensure that it can be reversed without any additional borrowing, funds have been earmarked from:

·         reversing George Osborne’s recent tax cut for hedge funds announced in Budget 2013;

 ·         reversing George Osborne’s shares for rights scheme which has been rejected by businesses, has opened up a tax loophole, and will lead to £1bn being lost to the Exchequer according to the Office for Budget Responsibility; and

 ·         tackling disguised employment in the construction industry. We are confident that these measures will cover the £470 million cost of repealing the Bedroom Tax.

Labour will deal with under-occupation by funding local authorities who are able to help people with the costs of moving to suitable accommodation, using the funding set aside by the Government through Discretionary Housing Payments for dealing with the problems caused by the Bedroom Tax.