Let’s not beat about the bush – as a nation we are well and truly skint. The economy is not what is was, and whilst it may not be as clear cut as doom and gloom – it’s hardly a bed of roses.

The coalition rescue plan to date has centred on reducing interest rates and pumping money into the economy by way of quantitive easing. So far so good. The problem is though, the economy is not in a discernibly better place than it was two or more years ago. Further, there is no obvious light at the end of the tunnel.

The latest initiative from our elected leaders is the so called “bedroom tax”. The thinking is that the state will only make benefit payments for rooms that claimants actually need, thus saving money that would otherwise be dished out. Welfare reforms will cut the amount of benefit that people can get if they are deemed to have a spare bedroom in their rented home. This measure will apply from April 2013 to tenants of working age. The power to do this is contained in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and is commonly referred to as the bedroom tax, size criteria or under-occupation penalty.

The size criteria will restrict housing benefit to allow for one bedroom for each person or couple living as part of the household, with some exceptions. All claimants who are deemed to have at least one spare bedroom will be affected. The cut will be a fixed percentage of the Housing Benefit eligible rent. The Government has said that this will be set at 14% for one extra bedroom and 25% for two or more extra bedrooms.

The Government’s impact assessment shows that those affected will lose an average of £14 a week.

For sure, this will be a further nail in the coffin for benefit claimants wishing to rent privately.

Having said that, some landlords do not accept benefit claimants. As a landlord myself, I’m happy to consider benefit claimants. My experience is that rent problems and upsets are not exclusively limited to folk not working. I get just as much grief from working tenants as I do from people out of work.

Also, if a landlord is receiving his rent direct from a working tenant and this arrangement continues over time, how does the landlord know that the tenant hasn’t fallen out of work in the meantime ? If the tenant claims benefit and the rent is paid, the landlord is none the wiser.

However, the squeeze on the household budget remains and landlords need to be ever alert of legislative changes to stay ahead of the game.

NEIL THWAITES, Westfields Property