A bid to make sweeping changes to the controversial “bedroom tax” has cleared its first hurdle at Westminster.
The Liberal Democrats joined with Labour to force Andrew George’s Affordable Homes Bill through to a second reading with a vote of 306 to 231.
The unpopular welfare reform cuts the benefits of social housing tenants who have spare rooms.
The Scottish Government has already moved to effectively buy out the policy north of the border, using new powers to provide £50million to help 72,000 affected households.
The new Bill in the Commons would exclude social housing tenants from the policy until they receive a “reasonable offer” of alternative accommodation with the “correct number of bedrooms”.
An exemption would also apply if a tenant needs an extra room for “genuine medical reasons” or if the property has undergone “substantial” adaptations to help them live there.
Labour’s Dame Anne Begg, the Aberdeen South MP, hailed the vote as the “first step in abolishing the hated bedroom tax”.
The Lib Dems recently withdrew their support for the measure, which the coalition calls the “spare room subsidy”.
On social media yesterday, Gordon MP Sir Malcolm Bruce said: “Tories not just nasty on spare room subsidy but determined to be seen to be really nasty.”
Highland MP Danny Alexander, the chief secretary to the Treasury, said: “Today’s vote was an important step in reforming spare room subsidy policy to make sure we protect the most vulnerable.”
Conservative Minister for Disabled People Mark Harper had earlier warned that the Bill would cost £1billion if it was made law.