Disabled man could lose home in new law

8:00am Friday 15th February 2013 in News Photograph of the Author By Cadisha Brown

Home loss fears: Elaine and Bryan Tudor in his bedroom with the dialysis machine. Buy this photo » Home loss fears: Elaine and Bryan Tudor in his bedroom with the dialysis machine.

A DISABLED man with kidney failure says he faces losing his home of 30 years after being forced to fork out extra for his spare bedrooms, which he uses for his dialysis equipment.

Bryan Tudor, of Kidderminster, is a victim of the new Welfare Reform Act, in which unused bedrooms in social housing will be subject to an under-occupation charge or “bedroom tax”, from April.

Mr Tudor, 60, who lives in a threebedroom community housing property with his carer wife Elaine, 58, said he would have to pay an extra £100 a month for the rooms or move to a one-bedroom bungalow, without room for his dialysis machine.

The couple have to sleep in separate rooms, as Mr Tudor’s bedroom has the dialysis machine in it, while the spare room houses all the supplies required for the treatment.

“We can’t sleep in a one-bedroom bungalow because the dialysis equipment takes up most of the room,” said Mr Tudor, who has to have dialysis three times a week.

“The spare bedroom is absolutely packed solid and my wife sleeps in the third bedroom because there’s not enough room for a double bed in mine.

“We can’t afford the extra £100 a month. We’ve got no choice but to stay because I’ve got the kidney machine.

“We want help to pay for it or something to be done about it.

Being told after 30 years that we could be forced to move is a big shock.”

He added if they moved to a bungalow he would have to travel to Russells Hall Hospital, Dudley, to have his dialysis.

“It would cost us a fortune going backwards and forwards,” Mr Tudor said. “The dialysis machine is a godsend and saves me a lot of time travelling to the hospital.

There must be something that can be done to help us stay here.”

Adrian Sewell, Labour Wyre Forest district councillor, who is highlighting their plight, said: “They’re an honest couple in a major predicament.”

A spokeswoman for The Community Housing Group added they “totally” supported and sympathised with the couple.

She said: “The new Welfare Reform Legislation considers that they are under occupying their property – they have more bedrooms than they need – and so will be liable for a reduction in their benefits.

“No consideration is taken of their personal circumstances and they will have to pay more of the rent themselves if they wish to remain in their home.”

She said the group was working with tenants to look at their options, adding they would be providing a mobile advice service in March.

Comments(35)

gypsyman says...
9:29am Fri 15 Feb 13

descusting, is what this is this goverment is a joke, sick sick people, being bullyed for a few quid, should be ashamed of yourselfs if u suport this madness, whats next, a mother and her new born babys on the streets get conservatives out before they kill this country.

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stour67 says...
10:54am Fri 15 Feb 13

Look at options there are not any,it's the type of ill though out gov thinking hit the poor and disabled and reward the rich.Roll on 2015.

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Primrose Coley says...
11:30am Fri 15 Feb 13

Has this government forgotten the much vaunted 'Care in the Community' ? The alternative to long-term care in a nursing/care home, for many. If someone needs a sleep-in carer, then they also need an available extra bedroom. If, as in Bryan Tudor's case, an extra bedroom is needed for medical reasons, this should be a good enough reason for bedroom tax exemption. It would cost even more if Bryan and others in the same predicament, had to be treated in hospital.
This is nothing short of legal muggings. A sledgehammer to crack a nut approach.I don't agree with the bedroom tax for anyone. This government must be made to rethink on this one. After all, where are all the one bedroomed homes going to materialise from.
It brings to mind the 'window Tax' when many years ago, property owners bricked up a window/s to avoid it. Bricking up that extra bedroom could be more tricky, so how about all MPs giving up their
expense claims to help the poor taxpayer out. After all, 'We are all in this together'. They said it! Let them prove it...........

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Primrose Coley says...
11:30am Fri 15 Feb 13

Has this government forgotten the much vaunted 'Care in the Community' ? The alternative to long-term care in a nursing/care home, for many. If someone needs a sleep-in carer, then they also need an available extra bedroom. If, as in Bryan Tudor's case, an extra bedroom is needed for medical reasons, this should be a good enough reason for bedroom tax exemption. It would cost even more if Bryan and others in the same predicament, had to be treated in hospital.
This is nothing short of legal muggings. A sledgehammer to crack a nut approach.I don't agree with the bedroom tax for anyone. This government must be made to rethink on this one. After all, where are all the one bedroomed homes going to materialise from.
It brings to mind the 'window Tax' when many years ago, property owners bricked up a window/s to avoid it. Bricking up that extra bedroom could be more tricky, so how about all MPs giving up their
expense claims to help the poor taxpayer out. After all, 'We are all in this together'. They said it! Let them prove it...........

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Salrion says...
12:51pm Fri 15 Feb 13

This so called tax is unfair and wrong , come on mr camoron listen to your country ! we the people will not stand by whilst you push more people into poverty ,through no fault of their own ! i have emailed our local MP three times about this issue and still have had no reply ( what a shock ) they cant bury their heads in the sand forever this issue will not go away , and i will continue to email untill i get a response , THIS NEW POLL TAX HAS TO BE STOPPED !!!

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Tory Stooge says...
1:05pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Please remember that Conservative County Councillors had nothing to do with this. It would be wrong to punish them at the ballot box in just a few weeks.

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Salrion says...
1:29pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Tory Stooge wrote:
Please remember that Conservative County Councillors had nothing to do with this. It would be wrong to punish them at the ballot box in just a few weeks.
if that is the case , then let these conservituves join us with our protests !

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Pseudonym24 says...
1:55pm Fri 15 Feb 13

This is an absolute disgrace does this Government have no shame. Taking more money from the poor is disgusting, especially as Mr. Cameron will be enjoying his £100,000 tax break this April with his millionaire mates.
"All in this Together" the hypocrisy is blinding.

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HowardM says...
1:59pm Fri 15 Feb 13

This is the reality beginning to dawn of the real meaning of the Tory cuts in the community. Our MP voted for this legislation when it went through Parliament and the local Tory Councillors (District & County Members) spoke strongly in favour of the policy when it was presented to all Councillors at a recent seminar. ALL opposition parties in Wyre Forest were horrified at the harshness and nastiness of what this means to people like Brian Tudor, who are being victimised and discriminated against by Tory dictat for being ill! This is just the start - if you think this is bad, watch this space!

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DOEPUBLIC says...
3:29pm Fri 15 Feb 13

A sad symptom of the statistics led politics since the 80s supported by all the main parties. This is a disgrace reflecting how the public have been conned by successive governments into believing that tax and national insurance were to be used to support the community. 100% of a person's life reduced to data on a spreadsheet in a work space fit for purpose. We should continue to campaign for a cross party Compassionate Community that reflect real lives so that this disgraceful context is not repeated. Bailing out bankers while daylight robbery is taken place with the poor and vulnerable. Just an inkling of healthy concern would be comforting.

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Jon D says...
6:06pm Fri 15 Feb 13

The bedroom tax is perhaps even more morally repugnant than the poll tax. It's not really a surprise though, this is a Conservative government after all and this is all part of Conservative philosophy. I presume Mark Garnier is in favour?

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gypsyman says...
7:20pm Fri 15 Feb 13

vote ukip lmao

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kidderlord says...
8:01pm Fri 15 Feb 13

tory stooge do you have an agent? its just that if not id like the job as i think i could arrange a sell out uk tour... you are hillarious, all your postings. the funniest things ive read for ages.

this is camerons poll tax...... lets see demonstrations to make this prime minister resign too,, he and osbourne should be ashamed of themselves.

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gypsyman says...
9:11pm Fri 15 Feb 13

how many spare bedrooms has mr cameron got lol, bet he is exempt from his own tax, what a w---er, he and the CONservatives realy are

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Munch44 says...
9:42pm Fri 15 Feb 13

I am in a similar situation where my medical equipment and special foods and pipes and syringes are kept in a box room which is 6ft x 6ft which the government seems to think is a expensive bedroom they can make money off. i was told get a lodger or relative and because me being disabled the relitive would not have to pay any rent or council tax which i found out to be misleading information from the council as i would have to get the lodger to pay plus I would lose more benefits. it seems to be lets pick on anyone under 65, there are probably about 20 houses i know who have a one person liveing in them who is 65 and over who dont seem to have to pay even though they are liveing in 3-4 bedroomed houses ? I can understand that a person of older generation would not want to move at this time in there life but neither do I as i have lived in this house for 20 years with my partner and children .
This is toteally unfair i meen the box room we have is so small you cant get a proper size single bed in there without jamming the door and you would not be able to get a wardrobe or a chest of draws in there .
Someone needs to have a rethink on this idea as ii can see alot of people getting angry and poorer.
Plus you start takeing money awy from some of us how are we suposed to pay for a gas and electric and water and food plus clothes and things for our children. Mind you we are from this country so as useal the government seems to punish the people from here and tell everyone else just move over here and we will give you a home feed your families and you can even claim for your children back in your home country and we dont need proof that they exist.
its about time this government helped its own country befor giveing away billions to others.

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Jon D says...
9:53pm Fri 15 Feb 13

Others vulnerable to the bedroom tax include foster parents who need to keep a room free for children to be cared for, parents with children in the armed forces, divorced dads who have children over every other weekend. The government say that those affected could take in a lodger or simply work more hours !!!!! Bare in mind the Chancellor claimed for a paddock in his expenses. These people live in a different universe let alone on another planet.

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nikki09 says...
10:58pm Fri 15 Feb 13

This is absoloute crazy bull---t!!!!!!!
The government is so twisted and f----d up these days!! THIS IS SO WRONGGGGGG!!!!!

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kidderlord says...
3:51am Sat 16 Feb 13

I think this measure is appalling and will effect many people in a severe way. HOWEVER, please stop this continual ranting about people keeping a room for their child in the armed forces. They are being housed rent free and fed in most cases at our expense, and are being paid a very good wage. If they had to rent accommodation or buy like the rest of us, they would be paying housing costs, so if their prents have to keep a room for them then they should contribute towards this cost.

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stour67 says...
8:26am Sat 16 Feb 13

Kidderlord
YOU should be ashamed at your comment and hang your head, a good wage there being shot at for god sake for less than 20k,and there then being thrown on the scrap heap if wounded or redundant.

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Jon D says...
10:20am Sat 16 Feb 13

Effectively, the council will offload
its housing stock by the back door so that taxes can be reduced for the wealthy.
This is a national government policy not a local one, local councils will not have a choice like with the over zealous reductions in funding passed down by Eric Pickles.
The only thing you can do to stop this grotesque war on the most needy in our society is to vote out Mark Garnier.

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Tory Stooge says...
11:19am Sat 16 Feb 13

Please do not link this story with another one in this weeks Shuttle about the Conservatives in Wyre Forest spending £4000 on hanging 31 photographs on the walls of their new £10,500,000 HQ. This gentleman is being forced to pay an extra £100 a month so the cost of hanging those photographs will be covered in less than three and a half years.

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Stephen Brown says...
12:38pm Sat 16 Feb 13

A shocking story and one that is replicated across Worcestershire and the country as a whole. Unfortunately, Bryan's case is the harsh reality for vulnerable people of Tory economic and welfare policy.

Those policies have been voted for by our Tory MP, and in turn supported by the party he represents at all levels, local and upwards.

The most vulnerable are bearing the greatest burden for these policies and that is patently unfair but it is the Tory agenda, always has been. They remain the party of the rich committed to the dismantling of the welfare state and our universal health system. Read the small print not the headlines, and don't believe the spin. So next time David Cameron or any other tory sends you a manifesto - like Cameron's 'contract' with the citizen - that was mailed to every household before the last election, just remember what it was like last time they were in charge. One thing was right though when he said in it "we will change society". Yea, they made it better for the rich and worse for the rest of us and people like Bryan; just like they always do. Thanks Dave.

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GlenFiddick says...
4:30pm Sat 16 Feb 13

Kidderlord
YOU should be ashamed at your comment and hang your head, a good wage there being shot at for god sake for less than 20k,and there then being thrown on the scrap heap if wounded or redundant.


stour, we are no longer forced to take the King's Shilling .

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DOEPUBLIC says...
4:41pm Sat 16 Feb 13

A sad game of Political Monopoly that reduces individuals to game pieces to profit from.

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kidderlord says...
5:01am Sun 17 Feb 13

i am not ashamed of myself at all....perhaps i have the guts to say what a lot of peope think. remember these people CHOOSE to join the forces and in this day and age they KNOW there is a chance of being sent to a war zone, where we shouldnt be in the first place!

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harryurz says...
6:59pm Sun 17 Feb 13

Getting back to the subject of this thread, a quick search found this on the internet;

"Advice agencies say tenants might be able to get around the tax because the law is unclear about what is classed as a bedroom.
They claim if tenants simply ensure spare rooms are not used as bedrooms, local authorities and housing associations can be challenged over any cuts in payments for housing benefit purposes.
The Glasgow Advice Agency (GAA) obtained the opinion from Jonathan Mitchell, QC, who said that, while it was for a local authority to decide what was a bedroom, there was no legal definition.
The only guidance uncovered was in the Rent Officer Handbook produced by HMRC, which "makes the important point that actual use by an actual household is usually critical".

Mr Mitchell said it would be "going wrong in law" if a local authority determined every room that could possibly be slept in was classified as a bedroom, whatever its characteristics or use.
He added: "It may be that tenants should be advised that the particular use they make of rooms may have consequences for their benefit.

"If, for example, a family with a disabled child allows him or her to use the living room as a bedroom, this may result in the property being determined to have one more bedroom than before, just as turning a bedroom into a therapy or care room, or a study or playroom, may result in a reduction in the number of bedrooms determined."

- so presumably if Bryan ( and others in his situation) simply reclassify their extra bedrooms as something other than bedrooms (care/medical rooms etc ) that should sort things?

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Europeanist64 says...
7:06pm Sun 17 Feb 13

The predicament being faced by good, but vulnerable people like Mr and Mrs. Tudor is just the tip of the ConDem coalition iceberg which must be destroyed for the sake of British decency. The Welfare state is being destroyed by the ConDems, so that their rich supporters can have tax cuts. The poor, ill and vulnerable are being attacked and vilified by the Tories and the press labelled as "scroungers" and "workshy." Mr. and Mrs. Tudor are the reality of what is happening to this country. I hope and pray that the Tories and LibDems are cast like ashes in the wind at the next election. Let Mark Garnier, David Cameron and Ian Duncan-Smith come to Kidderminster and meet Mr and Mrs Tudor.

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Jon D says...
8:50pm Sun 17 Feb 13

Harryurz has a touching faith in our disability targeting government. A bit like a naïve Libyan who believed Gadaffi was doing the best for his country.

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walkerno5 says...
11:16pm Sun 17 Feb 13

Give Harryurz some credit, any straw available should be clutched in this dire situation.

Does anyone know whether the Tudors have applied for the cash allocated to councils to relieve just this sort of situation?

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pottery1 says...
12:47am Mon 18 Feb 13

Well Kidderlord there speaks what appears to be a very sad person. My brother has been in the armed services for 20 years and I may be biased but I think he has earnt every penny. He has seen service in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Iraq and Afghanistan to name a few and has seen and been involved in things that most of us can't even imagine. How can you rubbish what servicemen and servicewomen do in such an off hand and bitter way? I hope that you do not think you are speaking on behalf of others because your world must be very shallow if you do!

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kidderlord says...
11:56am Mon 18 Feb 13

so cllr dyke does what she is good at since joining bthe liberal/conservative alliance at wyre forest - talking rubbish. Can you point out anywhere tha I have dissed armed force personnel... i merely said that if anyone is effected by keeping a spare room free for a serving members of the forces then it is quite right that they be charged, unlike disabled people because they are eqrning a wage. Where your brother comes into it i have no idea unless he is still living at home with his mother? So before you open your mouth think... give others thec cahnce to express views unlike when you chair the meetings that you have been unfairly given the chairs of by the tories.

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kidderlord says...
11:57am Mon 18 Feb 13

Oh and i would make the same comments if it effected a policeman or fireman who was based away from home. Go back to watching your cctv cameras.

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happyness 21 says...
6:22pm Sun 3 Mar 13

where are one bedroom flats ,bungalows ,houses coming from if these people were to move to a one bedroom property they will be waiting a long time for the move as there are hardly any one bedroom propertys not enough for the amount of people who can,t afford the charge ,so what will happen if they don,t pay as they are trying to keep themselves alive as food and heating ,bedroom tax ,council tax ,and water rates have to be payed ,come on Mark Garnier get of the fence and take what the people are saying to parliment because the next election people will rethink who to put in and it the people who vote you and councillors in power.

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Jane Gordon says...
7:07pm Sun 3 Mar 13

This is tory policy and we have a local tory council so why not hit them at the ballot box.

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crisppacket says...
1:23pm Mon 4 Mar 13

trust me mr tudor,if you have Adrian behind you he will do everything within his powers to help you both.He helped my family and myself last year.The next time you have the chance to put a cross please everybody dont vote tory.

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