As the 1st April swiftly approaches, many people are living in fear and uncertainty because of the up and coming changes to the benefits system. Will they have enough money to pay the rent, probably not, thanks to the 'bedroom tax'.? Will they have enough money to survive on once the move from DLA to PIP starts? How much money will they have to find to cover the shortfall caused by the reduction to council tax benefit?
I have been worrying about these things over the last few months, and thankfully, I am one of the lucky ones.
I rent a from a private landlord, so although I do have a spare room, I will not be penalised for it yet. My flat isn't a great place and it isn't in a great location, so the two bedroom place costs per month only £2 more that the Bristol Housing Benefit allowance for a 1 bed place, which is what me and hubby are entitled to.
I live in Bristol, and thankfully Bristol City Council have decided to cover the Council Tax Benefit shortfall, which means I wont have to find money towards council tax from the £110 pittance that me and hubby survive on.
I really don't know what I would do if I had to pay towards my rent and council tax, there is no spare money, I would due to no fault of my own be unable to pay. Would this give me a criminal record? Would I end up in jail? I don't know. A criminal record would damage my chances of getting a job, my latest plan is to train to be a Science Teacher, I don't think you can teach will a criminal record. How many people will end up stuck on benefits for longer because they can't pay these new charges and end up with a criminal record?
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