Axe 'Bedroom Tax', Says UN Investigator

A United Nations official has refused to back down after enraging the Government by attacking its so-called "bedroom tax".

Tory ministers called the intervention by Raquel Rolnik, who had suggested the welfare reform should be axed, "disgraceful" and demanded an apology.

But the Brazilian, who is the UN's Special Investigator on Housing and a former left-wing worker's pay politician, remained defiant at a news conference in London.

She claimed the change to housing benefit was causing "great stress and anxiety" to "very vulnerable" people, some of whom could barely afford to eat.

And after earlier saying the reform should be abolished, she suggested it should be "suspended immediately and fully re-evaluated" in the light of her findings.

Ms Rolnik, who monitors and reports on adequate housing worldwide for the UN Human Rights Council, insisted she was invited to the UK by the Government despite Tory chairman Grant Shapps insisting no invitation was ever issued.

And she made clear she had met with housing minister Don Foster and Communities Secretary Eric Pickles during her stay, which saw her tour various cities.

"This was an official visit, invited by the UK Government, and organised by the UK Government," she said.

The coalition policy, which is officially called the Spare Room Subsidy, is designed to reduce the number of social tenants under-occupying their accommodation.

Introduced in April, it sees people in council houses who are considered to have more bedrooms than they need receive less housing benefit.

Ministers insist it is unfair for taxpayers to subsidise the spare rooms and that the change will save around £500m each year.

But it has sparked protests, with critics claiming it is forcing families into poverty and will increase the benefit bill by pushing people into the private sector.

Ms Rolnik told reporters the right to housing was "not about reshuffling people according to a snapshot of the number of bedrooms at a given night".

"It is about enabling environments for people to maintain their family and community bonds, their local schools, work places and health services allowing them to exercise other rights, like education, work, food and health," she said.

She added that she had been "deeply touched" by the testimonies of residents she had met and claimed "many" were having to choose between food and paying the "penalty".

Adopting Labour's nickname for the policy, she described the "bedroom tax" as an "especially worrisome" element of the recent welfare reforms.

Earlier she had warned some tenants were contemplating suicide because of the policy, which she also argued could be in breach of human rights laws.

Mr Shapps claimed Ms Rolnik had clearly "come over with an agenda" and vowed to write to UN secretary general Ban Ki-Moon demanding an apology and an investigation.

"It is completely wrong and an abuse of the process for somebody to come over, to fail to meet with Government ministers, to fail to meet with the department responsible, to produce a press release two weeks after coming, even though the report is not due out until next spring, and even to fail to refer to the policy properly throughout the report," he said.

The Department of Work and Pensions also expressed surprise that the report was based on anecdotal evidence and "conversations" rather than hard figures.

A spokesman said: "Britain has a strong housing safety net and even after our necessary reforms, we continue to pay over 80% of most claimants' rent if they are affected by the ending of the spare room subsidy.

"These changes will help us get to grips with the Housing Benefit Bill which has grown to £24bn this year, and make better use of our housing stock. We've given councils £190m to support vulnerable residents who may need extra help."