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this booklet contains the infomation you need too fight this monster - produced by communities against the cuts -
visit - communitiesagainstthecuts.com find us on facebook "communities against the cuts"
"I will be evicted and will lose the house, the children, and my job" - Birmingham mother of two It is clear the Bedroom tax is causing heartbreak - this story reported in the press is of a Birmingham mother of two, recently seperated who will no longer be able to afford to keep a room spare for her children. The Bedroom tax will force her to downsize to a smaller house. However for every two houses classed as "over occupied" there is only one appropiate smaller house availibe. She can't find an affordable house small enough near enough to her work, and might lose her job. Another story is of John Holland, (not real name), a seperated parent who will be affected by the Bedroom Tax. He is terrified of losing contact with his two children Kelly, 11 and Ben, 4. He will be charged an extra £40 a month for his ‘spare room’ that is their for his daughter, he believes that without that room, she will not want to stay with him anymore.
What is the Bedroom tax, Who Does it affect? 1)If you are: not retired. 2)If you are: living in council housing or a housing association house 3) Claiming housing benefit Then for every one spare room you have you will lose 14% of your housing benefit. If you have two rooms you'll lose 25%. Which will leave you £500 -£1000 worse off a year.
"my Husband of 30 years died recently, this was our home but the Bedroom tax will drive me out" The Bedroom tax will leave the recently bereaved unable to afford their homes when their loves ones die and leave a room spare. Many people can't afford the double blow of losing not only their loved one, also but their home and neigbourhood.
homelessness on the rise. There is the crisis that is already upon us, visible across the city. Birmingham has the highest rate of homelessness in the country, and the surrounding West Midlands area has the highest rate of any region outside London. Homeless charities in Birmingham have been hit hard and a recent study discovered that homelessness in Birmingham has increased by 25% since 2009. This is in direct correlation with the 29% cut on the already modest spending on homelessness, from £7.8m to £5.5m.
Many people can't find affordable homes. Birmingham is currently short of affordable homes, many families can’t find a house they can afford on their wages to live in the city. The city planners estimate Birmingham is short11,000 affordable homes, however the council housing waiting list is 26,000 long. There are between 11,000 -26,000 households already who can’t find a home they can afford to live in. However city planners estimate that this will rise due to population growth to 70,000 short by 2026. Those visibly homeless on the streets of Birmingham are merely the tip of the iceberg. The institute of housing reported in January 2012 that over 11,000 families in Birmingham are at risk of being unable to afford their homes once housing benefit cuts started to bite. Furthermore in July this year Birmingham city council declared that many of Birmingham’s families would lose around 20% of their council tax relief. This will add between £200£500 pounds to many household expenses. Finally the Bedroom tax which will hit in April will for 13,000 of the pooresthouseholds result in a £565 hit and for some with two or more bedrooms £1000.
can't take this anym ore? Then Keep reading fi n d out how to fig ht back.
All the while the Rich GET RICHER
The Sunday Times's 2012 research found the combined worth of the country's 1,000 wealthiest people is £414bn, up 4.7% from 2011. The rich are avoiding & evading £94 Bn In taxes a year. They received a tax cut of 5% last year.
How we can beat the BEDRoom TAX Option one: use a TAPE MEASURE One of the easist ways to beat the tax involves simply measuring your room. As Birmingham City Council are refusing to follow the Housing Act 1985 section 326 which states a room under 70 square feet is not a full bedroom. If you room is smaller than 70 square feet then you don't need to pay the tax. You need to write to your local Housing Officer. If the officer refuses to listen to you then take legal action against them. The more people that complain to the council, and take legal action against them, the better.
Option one: get your home reclassified The Knowsley Housing Trust has reclassified nearly 600 family homes as smaller properties. This will exempt tenants from having their housing benefit reduced under the 'bedroom tax'. This means that tenants have got reduced rents aswell. Organised groups of tenants could campaign to get their homes reclassfied.
the Poll Tax Revolt When we fight we can win
By 1992 Birmingham had over 40,000 residents refusing to pay the hated Poll Tax amounting to a total of £82m worth of unpaid poll tax. The tax proved impossible to implement as so many people simply wouldn’t cooperate and refused to pay it. The government gave in and the Tax was later repealed. Robert Benchley From Ladywood Birmingham was a poll tax Refuser who never paid. He said, “I had a firm called Crilley after me for a long time, all it amounted to was notices stuck through my door demanding payment. In the end, Crilley gave up, and I ended up in court. I gave the magistrates some totally feeble excuse, and to my surprise, got away with it."
can't pay won't pay
The poll tax campaign only built to the level where tens of thousands refused to pay by serious ground work being put in raising awareness. Campaigners handing out flyers (much like this one) and organising public meetings and demonstrations against the poll tax. There is a lot we can do to build a movement not only against the Bedroom tax, but the loss of council tax benefit and the lack of decent affordable homes. If people were to come foward willing to publically refuse to pay they could inspire others to take simlar steps.
“Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient allover the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” - Howard Zinn
organise! If the housinng crisis continues it means crowded housing, slums and ghettos. It means evictions and losing deposits. It means cold,mouldy, infested homes and high rent. It means being forced into repetitive boring work unemployment and maybe homelessness. It means isolation, communities forced apart. It means loan sharks circling. If we want something better we will have to fight for it. We will have to organise and build organisations that can fight, can which make alternatives a reality. In 1915, in Glasgow, working class tenants responded to rent increases by only paying theT old rent or not paying any rent at all. Massive demonstrations kept the police from evicting people for not paying rent. The UK government, afraid that the rent strikeswould lead to strikes in the Glasgow munitions factories, instituted national rent control to keep prices down at Affordable levels.
We don't have to let things go on like this! We are not Machines, we are human beings, and we need decent homes! organised groups could form Tennants unions that could fight for tennants' rights, Win Decent homes and keep rents cheap and affordable.
"If there is no struggle there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom and yet depreciate agitation‌want crops without plowing up the ground, they want rain without thunder and lightening. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters‌. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
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about us We began in early 2011 as a small group of individuals determined to fight the vicious cuts affecting our community. Since then we have come on an extraordinary journey. We discovered a common voice calling for a halt to public service cuts, and so a cluster of individuals grew into the campaign group Stirchley & Cotteridge Against the Cuts, and we have now formed a new organisation – Communities against the Cuts. We operate democratically, listen to each other, share views, vote on decisions, and then take action.Hundreds of ordinary people have spoken to us, signed our petitions, debated with us at meetings and talked to us in their workplaces. We have felt the growing anger and resentment as people have realised the vulnerable, the elderly, women and young people especially, are being made to pay for a crisis they took no part in causing. The Tory-Lib Dem Coalition Government and its flagship Birmingham City Council have imposed austerity measures harsher than any since the 1920’s, damaging lives and local economies. Meanwhile, those who caused the financial crisis continue to receive obscenely high salaries, unjustifiable bonuses, lucrative share options and golden pensions, moving their assets to tax havens to avoid and evade and grow richer still, whilst the rest of us are left grappling to make ends meet and worrying about the future. It is clear that many ordinary people no longer feel they have a political voice. Those in opposition are content to allow austerity to happen. This is graphically illustrated by the new Labour administration in Birmingham. We cannot afford to wait for these parties to start listening. We decided we would be the alternative ourselves. We’ve fought and won local battles against the cuts; helping the parents campaign to stop West-Heath school from becoming an academy, helping parents stop the closure of the Charles House respite centre for disabled children and helping parents campaign against the closure of Merrishaw Nursery (It has now re-opened as a children’s centre), organised dozens of protests and stood candidates in the local elections who won hundreds of votes. If you agree with us, then join us.
Phone: 07582 610944 communitiesagainstthecuts@gmail.com We work as a local community team, seeking to unite residents, service users and providers in defence of decent and essential public services. All those who support these aims are welcome to join our friendly group. Drop us an email or give us a ring.
calling All Residents! When we go on the offensive we begin to recognize each other and to f ght collectively. We use the ways that society depends on us to disrupt it. We strike, sabotage, riot, desert, mutiny and take over property. We create organizations in order to amplify and coordinate our activities. All kinds of new possibilities open up.
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We need to get organised to fight the bedroom tax - Bring back Council tax Benefit - Win cheaper rents and investment in decent homes for all. open Public organising meeting on Birmingham's housing crisis At the Hawkesley Community Centre 51 Edgewood Road, Kings Norton B38 9RN Tuesday 9th April. 7-9pm.