Bedroom tax: Mitigation set to be made permanent, says communities minister

Deirdre Hargey says a paper has been submitted to the executive to legislate on the issue

A Northern Ireland-specific mitigation in place to soften the impact of welfare reforms will be made permanent, the communities minister has said.

It currently provides financial support to people who would otherwise have faced cuts as a result of the so-called bedroom tax.

Deirdre Hargey has said she will bring plans to make the change before Stormont in the next six weeks.

It had previously been due to end in March of 2020, before being extended.

Plans to extend the mitigation were outlined in New Decade, New Approach - the deal that restored devolution after three years of political deadlock in Northern Ireland.

"The paper has been submitted to the executive, so I am just waiting on sign off then to move to the next phase," Ms Hargey told BBC's On Your Behalf programme.

Closing loopholes

People supported by the mitigation receive this in the form of a top-up payment.

Currently a loophole means someone will no longer receive this payment if they move to a new property.

The communities minister said the new legislation would stop this being the case.

Ms Hargey said the loophole on the benefit cap would also be closed.

Currently, claimants can only receive mitigating payments on a benefit if they were receiving it in 2016, when the mitigations were introduced.

The bedroom tax had been originally been due to take effect in Northern Ireland in 2017.

Under the bedroom tax, or spare room subsidy, people who receive welfare payments would have had their housing benefit reduced if they had one or more spare bedrooms.

The tax was expected to cost those affected an average of £20 a week.

On Your Behalf is on BBC Radio Ulster at 10:00 GMT on Saturday.