A COUPLE have said they feel like they are being penalised for ‘doing the right thing’ attempting to swap their home after new bedroom tax laws have forced them into a move.

John Kitchen and girlfriend Michelle Booth, aged 22, found a smaller property on Newhaven Road, Orford but the move has been blocked by Golden Gates housing.

It leaves 32-year-old John, of Blenheim Close, Padgate, with potential bigger arrears each month and has stalled the couple’s hopes of adopting a child.

John, who has been unemployed for six to eight months and said he is doing everything he can to find a job, added: “I have been living in a three bedroom house but it’s too big for me and I looked at the exchange website to downsize.

“We found a two bedroom property with Golden Gates because we wanted to adopt and everyone was happy with the exchange.

“But now Golden Gates have said we can’t move in because we don’t have children even though the only thing on homeswapper is two bedrooms and we would have to move again to adopt.

“We offered to pay the rent in full but they’re still refusing and said it was too large for our needs.

“We’re trying to do the right thing but we’re being stopped at every turn.”

Under new laws, referred to as the bedroom tax, families with one spare bedroom lose 14 per cent of their housing benefits or 25 per cent if there are two spare rooms.

The couple added Golden Gates staff had been ‘nasty and unsympathetic during an emotional situation’ and a letter to Warrington North MP Helen Jones also did nothing to help.

A Golden Gates spokesman said: “Mr Kitchen has made an enquiry to us recently about the possibility of carrying out a mutual exchange of tenancy with the tenant of one our properties.
“Based on his current family circumstances, Mr Kitchen has been advised by our staff that this would not be approved. This is because the property he wants to move into would be deemed too large for his needs.
“As an organisation we have an obligation to make the best use of our properties and this would not be achieved if the exchange was to go ahead.”