A Blind Widow, a Disabled Dad and a Rape Victim – The ‘Scroungers’ Facing Eviction over Bedroom Tax Arrears

More than 25,000 people applied for the ‘discretionary housing payment’ to help pay their rent this month, as the Bedroom Tax kicked in.  This compares to just 5,700 applications in the same month last year. Notices of eviction are being issued up and down the country.  Caught up in these figures were a blind widow, a disabled dad and a rape victim. It is time to put a human face on the statistical failure of the Bedroom Tax.

The Blind Widow

 

Helen Sockell, 56, (pictured above) has lived in her Kilmarnock home for 25 years.  Her husband John died in 2005 and their son Andrew died, aged just 24 in the same year.  She is blind and now lives alone, supported by a full time carer.

She has no way to find the additional £33 a fortnight that the Bedroom Tax has added to her costs and so…