The latest two Joseph Rowntree Foundation reports add to criticism of welfare reforms.

Government savings from implementing the bedroom tax will fall short of what the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) predicted.

The bedroom tax has also left tenants struggling to cope and failed to free up homes in many areas, the latest research for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) has claimed.

In its report JRF says the DWP is likely to save £330 million in the policy’s first year, £115m below its initial target.

It adds 100,000 people subject to the cut are trapped in larger homes, despite wanting to move.

The report proposes reforms including allowances for those on a higher rate Disability Living Allowance and households with carers and children.

A further JRF report, into theimpacts of welfare reforms, says people are having to choose between eating and heating.

It added social landlords are incurring extra costs through increasingly having to advise tenants about juggling their finances.