Almost half of all Illawarra public housing tenants asked to move to smaller properties under the ‘‘bedroom tax’’ system have opted to pay extra rent rather than relocate.
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Figures obtained by the Mercury show of the 134 tenants asked to move, 60 opted to pay the vacant bedroom charge of up to $30 extra a week to stay in their house.
Under the policy introduced by the state government in September last year, tenants who choose to stay in a house with vacant bedrooms must pay for the unused space.
Singles are charged an extra $20 rent per week while couples are expected to pay $30 more.
Data from the Department of Family and Community Services shows 21 Illawarra public housing tenants have already moved to another house, while 53 have agreed to relocate.
In NSW, more than half agreed to pay the extra charge while in the Illawarra more chose to relocate.
In just over a year, the department has spoken to more than 2000 tenants across the state about moving to a smaller house.
Less than 10 per cent of tenants were from the Illawarra.
A department spokesman told the Mercury last week the policy aimed to ensure the size of each property was appropriate for the number of people in the household.
*An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the charge was introduced in September 2014. It actually came into force in September 2013.
