Bedroom Tax...1stApril

From 1 April 2013, working age tenants living in social housing and receiving housing benefit will be affected by changes to their benefits.

Housing benefit will provide support for the number of bedrooms that a household needs.

This type of support is currently in place for renters in the private sector claiming housing benefit and social renters will now be subject to the same size criteria.

The changes are expected to affect 660,000 claimants.

Claimants can choose whether they want to pay the difference to their rent – on average £14 a week – or if they want to move to more appropriately sized accommodation.

The Government has provided councils with £155m in 2013/14 to help people affected by Housing Benefit reforms.  This includes an extra £30m funding for the under-occupancy measure to help disabled people who live in adapted properties to stay in their homes and foster carers living in social housing.

This reform will lead to a better use of housing stock at a time when:

• Nearly one third of working-age social housing tenants on Housing Benefit are living in accommodation too big for their needs
• There are approaching 1 million extra bedrooms that are paid for by Housing Benefit
•  It is estimated that this measure will save up to half-a-billion pounds a year
• There are over 250,000 households living in overcrowded accommodation in the Social Rented Sector in England, who need more space
• 1.8 million households in England are on the housing waiting list.

Extra support and exceptions

Pensioners

• The new rules will only apply to working age claimants.
• People over the qualifying age for state pension credit or with a partner over that age will be exempt.
• Current mixed aged couples will continue to be exempt.

Temporary accommodation

• Homeless people living in certain types of temporary accommodation made available under specified legislation will not be affected.

Supported accommodation

• People who receive care, support or supervision from their landlord in supported exempt accommodation will not be affected.

Parents of students

• If a student’s main residency is their parents’ home, then their bedroom will not be considered as spare.

Bereaved families

• Where under-occupancy arises due a death we allow a year’s grace so that bereaved families have some time to come to terms with their loss and are able to make the right decisions about their finances and size of accommodation.

Armed forces personnel

• Wives or husbands of those serving in the armed forces will be unaffected by these changes.

Disabled People

• £30m of the £155m in Discretionary Housing Payments will be specifically targeted at disabled people who live in significantly adapted properties as well as for foster carers.
• Councils have discretion over whether disabled children are eligible for their own bedrooms.

Rooms for carers

• Bedrooms for live-in carers are not affected. A bedroom is also allowed for an overnight carer.

This fact sheet is also available in PDF format –

• Housing Benefit reform: under-occupancy fact sheet (33KB) 

Comment