AFTER some policy boffin had looked at the rapidly escalating bill for housing benefit, realised many of the payments were for homes larger than their tenants needed and added the problem of the pressing need in some parts of the UK for family homes with two or more bedrooms, the bedroom tax was born.

What may have seemed a blindingly obvious solution of reducing the benefit to those with an extra room, so that they would either pay more or move to a smaller property, had a number of practical difficulties. The fatal flaw was the lack of one-bedroom flats and houses for tenants to move into. As a result, from Monday tenants on low incomes must pay a minimum of £14 more a week or move out of their homes, assuming they can find a suitable alternative.

Glasgow Housing Association (GHA), the largest provider of social housing in Scotland, is to be congratulated on embarking on a practical solution to the mess created by the failure to examine the consequences of the policy. The housing association has set aside £16 million to buy up to 300 one-bedroom flats on the open market and will make these available to tenants in homes deemed to be too big for their requirements and will offer up to £2000 to cover the costs of the move. About 6000 GHA tenants of working age are estimated to have to pay additional rent when housing benefit is reduced and they will have priority under the scheme.

With about 100,000 tenants in Scotland believed to be facing extra costs, other social landlords should consider following the example of GHA. It offers a number of benefits. The difficulty in obtaining mortgages has prevented young people from getting onto the first rung of the housing ladder and led to stagnation in the market. A major housing association buying properties will allow those with small flats to sell and provide for the increasing demand for rented property. Also, the primary purpose of matching tenants' needs to the size of property and available benefit should be met.

It will not solve all the problems caused by the bedroom tax, not least because most of the under-occupiers are single pensioner households who are exempt from the cuts. Cutting benefits does nothing to solve the fundamental problem of housing benefit, which is the high rents charged by private landlords who are profiting at the expense of the taxpayer.

The GHA's initiative, however, could be the first step towards a greater variety of well-managed housing for rent available in Glasgow. If so, the bedroom tax will have produced one good outcome.