£200m tenant tax scandal
Shocking figures, obtained by the Liberal Democrats, show that the Government is planning to keep nearly £200m of council tenant’s rent this year.
Every year, the treasury decides how much local authorities need to spend on new homes and maintaining council houses. Thoses it deems to take more in rent than they need to spend pay a ‘negative subsidy’ to the Treasury, which is then redistributed to authorities in greater need.
However, this year the Treasury is collecting £195,816,938 more than it is redistributing. This extra money will remain with the exchequer and will not be spent on council housing.
Cllr Michael Wyatt said, “The tax on tenants is preventing local councils from investing in their housing stock, and crucially building new homes for the 1.67 million families on social housing waiting lists. It’s time to scrap the tenant tax.”
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