Lib Dem president: Clegg backs change to 'bedroom tax'

The Liberal Democrats wants to see the so-called 'bedroom tax' changed so that people do not face moving out of their home with nowhere to go, the party's president has told ITV News.

Current policy means social housing tenants who have a spare room face having their housing benefit reduced.

Speaking to Deputy Political Editor Chris Ship, Tim Farron said Nick Clegg shared "the view that this is something that we want to see changed".

Read: 'Bedroom tax' causing disabled 'severe hardship and distress'

Citizens Advice has said an extra room "can be a lifeline" for a disabled person, calling it "as vital as a guide dog or a wheelchair".

Chief executive Gillian Guy said for many people a spare room "is essential to their wellbeing" as it is needed for dialysis equipment or room for a carer.

Ms Guy said: "Many sick and disabled people have bedrooms which have been adapted to help them to cope with their condition.

"Moving disabled people out of their houses is not only a potential risk to their health, but can cost the individuals affected and councils significant amounts of money if they need to start from scratch in a new home."

Read: 'Bedroom tax' causing disabled 'severe hardship and distress'

The head of homeless charity Crisis has said the Government risks forcing poor people out of their homes because of changes to housing benefit such as the 'Bedroom Tax'.

Shadow work and pensions secretary Rachel Reeves said it was "completely unfair" that many disabled people were hit by the "bedroom tax" and charged for the space used to store essential medical equipment.

"Britain can't afford another year of David Cameron and Nick Clegg's tax on bedrooms," Ms Reeves said.

"If they won't listen to the country and scrap their hated bedroom tax, then a Labour government will," she added.

Read: 'Bedroom tax' causing disabled 'severe hardship and distress'

The chair of the Work and Pensions Select Committee has said those being hit by the withdrawal of the spare room subsidy are often not those the policy was intended for.

Dame Anne Begg said: "Many of the people being hit by the so-called 'bedroom tax' are in vulnerable groups, very often people with disabilities who can't move house."

Read more: 'Bedroom tax' causing disabled 'severe hardship and distress'

The work and pensions select committee voted down a proposal from Labour MP Sheila Gilmore to call for the policy, officially known as the removal of the spare room subsidy, to be scrapped but it did urge ministers to exempt:

• anyone whose home has been adapted to help them with their disability
• any household containing a claimant receiving disability benefits at the higher level
• carers living with disabled people should be exempt from the benefits cap

It said that it was "particularly unjust" for homeless people to be subjected to the benefits cap, as they have no choice over the temporary accommodation in which they are placed, which may force them over the limit. The committee called for them to be exempted from the cap.

Disabled people are suffering "severe financial hardship and distress" as a result of the 'bedroom tax', a cross-party committee of MPs has said.

The decision to reduce housing benefit payments from social tenants deemed to have a larger home than they need has hit vulnerable people who were not the intended targets of the reform and have little hope of moving to a smaller property, the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee found.