[lindsay ormerod]

If you live in a big posh house in a nice area you would expect to be paying more council tax and rightly so.

If you rent a house that has more bedrooms than you actually need is it really fair to expect the taxpayer to pay for your extra, empty rooms?

I know there are exceptions, people who need an overnight carer, pensioners, people who have recently lost a partner(and more). These exceptions are right, they shouldn't be penalised.

I accept that 1 bedroomed properties are now going to be at a premium, and there aren't many around. BUT there are far too many single people or families with 1 child living in social housing (by which I mean old council stock semis)with 3 or 4 bedrooms when other families who need the extra rooms are being crammed into 1 bedroomed flats or bed and breakfast places.

At the end of the day my taxes are paying for some families on benefits to have an "ironing room", a "spare room", an "office" . You have a bigger property, you have to pay for it, it's been this way for privately rented property for years under the LHA rules, it's all about balancing it out.

( Benefits Assessor)