Housing Benefit

Bedroom size criteria

In England, Wales and Scotland: Size criteria will apply in the social rented sector (e.g. council and housing association properties) replicating the size criteria that applies to Housing Benefit claimants in the private rented sector under the Local Housing Allowance rules. This means that people living in houses larger than they need (under-occupiers) will have to move to somewhere smaller or make up the difference in rent because their Housing Benefit will be reduced with a:

• 14% cut in Housing Benefit if you under-occupy by one bedroom;

• 25% cut in Housing Benefit if you under-occupy by two or more bedrooms.

Additionally, the Benefit Cap on the total amount of benefit you can get means you may lose some of your Housing Benefit. You won’t be able to appeal against this decision.

As this booklet was going to press the government announced a partial U-turn to exempt foster carers and parents of teenage armed forces personnel from the charge, just three weeks before it was due to come into force. The concessions came in a written ministerial statement after weeks of growing political pressure.

The changes will mean that about 5,000 approved foster carers will now be exempted from the bedroom tax. Parents whose children live at home but are away on operations with the armed forces will also not be charged for their child’s “spare bedroom”, as long as their offspring intend to return home.

However, campaigners pointed out that the concessions exempt a fraction of the 660,000 people affected by the bedroom tax and do nothing for almost half a million households that are home to a disabled person.