Could welfare reforms create a new class divide?

At JRHT, we believe that mixed-income neighbourhoods like our Derwenthorpe development provide a vibrant and successful base for strong communities.

Derwenthorpe featured on last night's Inside Out on BBC One, which focused on the impact of welfare reforms and touched on many of the issues that concern JRHT about the potentially devastating impact of the reforms on the poorest people.

The reforms will affect people in a number of ways:

• Under occupation: The reforms will penalise working-age (up to 65) households for having one or more spare bedrooms – 15 per cent reduction for one additional room and 25 per cent for two. Known as the 'bedroom tax', this is likely to reduce the income available for food, clothing, travel and could increase rent arrears.
• Supporting the family: Non-dependent charges will increase by 27 per cent this year and a similar amount next year. This may lead to young people having to leave home if they are unable to contribute the non-dependent charge.
• Downsizing: There will be an increase in demand for one- and two-bedroom homes. An increase in residents downsizing will release larger homes but there could be a massive lag between the imposition of the 'bedroom tax' and the ability to move.
• Faceless administration: The move to a Universal Benefit will leave claimants and landlords dependent on the Department for Work and Pensions' ability (or rather, the ability of its IT) to deliver. Over the years we have built up a close working relationship with the local authority benefit teams, whose local knowledge and skill will be lost.

The home, whether rented or owned, should represent a source of stability, a flexible place that can accommodate life's changes: growing families, working from home, providing accommodation for a carer or a returning son or daughter.

We are in danger of creating two classes of citizens:

1. those who live in a home where they have the freedom to use their space as they wish, who can keep a spare room, create a space to work from home or keep a bedroom ready for a son or daughter needing time to regroup before trying to live independently; and
2. those who live in units of accommodation where efficient use of space is the only deciding factor and flexibility comes at a price, where residents run the risk of being fined for their inability to downsize, even though there are no suitable homes available, and where the home becomes a liability.