A HOUSING association chief has spoken out about the "shocking" effects of welfare cuts and austerity policies after a survey of their tenants found more than 70% were living in poverty.

Shona Stephen, chief executive of Queens Cross Housing Association in Glasgow, said benefit reforms and mounting living costs were pushing households to the brink.

She said: "We've got tenants on very low incomes, paying high fuel costs because they've got pay-as-you-go meters, and they're home a lot because they're unemployed or old, so a big portion of their income is going on fuel and therefore they've got very little left to use for food and clothes. We have had residents who have been selling their furniture to pay their rent."

The findings emerged after QCHA carried out research, questioning their tenants on everything from their incomes to their health. The move came after the housing association doubled in size in 2011 when it took on extra stock offloaded by Glasgow Housing Association. It now provides social housing to around 4500 tenants in the city.

Stephen said she had commissioned the survey to get a clearer idea of who tenants were and what they needed, but had been shocked when the results revealed that 70% fell into the poverty bracket – defined as having a household income of 60% or less than the national median average.

At the time when the research was carried out, this was equivalent to £416 a week – meaning that about 3300 of QCHA's tenants had a total household income of no more than £250 a week, and many far less.

"How much worse would those figures be if we repeated the exercise now, particularly after last week's spending review?" she said.

"As an organisation we've already lost £10,000 in two months since the bedroom tax was introduced – that's the shortfall that our tenants can't afford to pay.

"I think about 74% of our tenants who have been hit by the bedroom tax haven't been able to pay, and when we look at figures in our survey showing that people are living on £150 [a week] or less you can understand why they can't find the extra £10 they're being asked to put towards their rent.

"The impact of that really worries us as an organisation because we're having demand for our services increasing, particularly around welfare benefits and growing waiting lists for our welfare advice counsellors, yet at the same time our income is being squeezed."

One tenant fighting to obtain an exemption from the bedroom tax is musician Fee McKenzie, whose 15-year-old son uses her spare bedroom when he stays over at her flat in Govan three nights a week.

McKenzie, 35, has been forced to give up work due to worsening health problems caused by fibromyalgia, a condition which causes chronic pain, fatigue and insomnia. She was diagnosed with the condition three years ago, but in recent months the stress of trying to run her music events business while worrying about making enough money to cover her rent and bills aggravated the illness.

The unpredictable nature of her work meant her monthly income was often as low as £250, pushing her into rent arrears – a situation made worse by the prospect that she faced shelling out £40 a month to pay for her spare bedroom.

"The housing association said they could move me to a one-bedroom flat, but they don't have any so I'm stuck. But I need that room – where does it leave our relationship as mother and son if he doesn't have anywhere to sleep when he stays over?"

Although she hopes to be able to begin working again in six months, she admits that for now she is better off claiming sickness benefits.

"I want to work and I've spent years building up my business so I don't want to lose it, but it was having such a detrimental effect on my health ... It's depressing claiming benefits, but I just don't feel like I have a choice."

A HOUSING association chief has spoken out about the "shocking" effects of welfare cuts and austerity policies after a survey of their tenants found more than 70% were living in poverty. Shona Stephen, chief executive of Queens Cross Housing Association in Glasgow, said benefit reforms and mounting living costs were pushing households to the brink.

She said: "We've got tenants on very low incomes, paying high fuel costs because they've got pay-as-you-go meters, and they're home a lot because they're unemployed or old, so a big portion of their income is going on fuel and therefore they've got very little left to use for food and clothes. We have had residents who have been selling their furniture to pay their rent."

The findings emerged after QCHA carried out research, questioning their tenants on everything from their incomes to their health. The move came after the housing association doubled in size in 2011 when it took on extra stock offloaded by Glasgow Housing Association. It now provides social housing to around 4500 tenants in the city.

Stephen said she had commissioned the survey to get a clearer idea of who tenants were and what they needed, but had been shocked when the results revealed that 70% fell into the poverty bracket – defined as having a household income of 60% or less than the national median average.

At the time when the research was carried out, this was equivalent to £416 a week – meaning that about 3300 of QCHA's tenants had a total household income of no more than £250 a week, and many far less.

"How much worse would those figures be if we repeated the exercise now, particularly after last week's spending review?" she said.

"As an organisation we've already lost £10,000 in two months since the bedroom tax was introduced – that's the shortfall that our tenants can't afford to pay.

"I think about 74% of our tenants who have been hit by the bedroom tax haven't been able to pay, and when we look at figures in our survey showing that people are living on £150 [a week] or less you can understand why they can't find the extra £10 they're being asked to put towards their rent.

"The impact of that really worries us as an organisation because we're having demand for our services increasing, particularly around welfare benefits and growing waiting lists for our welfare advice counsellors, yet at the same time our income is being squeezed."

One tenant fighting to obtain an exemption from the bedroom tax is musician Fee McKenzie, whose 15-year-old son uses her spare bedroom when he stays over at her flat in Govan three nights a week.

McKenzie, 35, has been forced to give up work due to worsening health problems caused by fibromyalgia, a condition which causes chronic pain, fatigue and insomnia. She was diagnosed with the condition three years ago, but in recent months the stress of trying to run her music events business while worrying about making enough money to cover her rent and bills aggravated the illness.

The unpredictable nature of her work meant her monthly income was often as low as £250, pushing her into rent arrears – a situation made worse by the prospect that she faced shelling out £40 a month to pay for her spare bedroom.

"The housing association said they could move me to a one-bedroom flat, but they don't have any so I'm stuck. But I need that room – where does it leave our relationship as mother and son if he doesn't have anywhere to sleep when he stays over?"

Although she hopes to be able to begin working again in six months, she admits that for now she is better off claiming sickness benefits.

"I want to work and I've spent years building up my business so I don't want to lose it, but it was having such a detrimental effect on my health ... It's depressing claiming benefits, but I just don't feel like I have a choice."