The impact of the “bedroom tax”

The so-called bedroom tax was introduced as part of wider welfare benefit reforms through the Welfare Reform Act 2012. According to Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) estimates, it will have affected some 660,000 people and around two-thirds (420,000) of these are disabled. They are losing an average of £728 a year or around £14 per week.

The campaign group False Economy reported in September 2013 that nearly one in three council house tenants affected by the bedroom tax had fallen behind on their rent in the first four months of its operation. Based on information provided by 114 local authorities under the Freedom of Information Act (FOI), the group reported that more than 50,000 people have not been able to keep up their rent payments and face eviction.

The general union Unite estimates that the cost of an eviction averages around £11,000, but only one in 10 authorities who responded to the FOI request have any form of “no eviction” policy.

A National Housing Federation (NHF) survey of 51 housing associations in England found that more than half (32,432) of tenants affected were unable to pay their rent in the first three months of the tax.

A legal loophole gave some tenants a reprieve. Under legislation passed by the last Labour government, but overlooked by the DWP when it was designing the policy, thousands of housing benefit recipients were wrongly identified as liable to pay the bedroom tax.

This error meant that tenants were exempt from the penalty if:

• they had been continuously entitled to Housing Benefit since 1 January 1996 (breaks of four weeks or less are ignored); and

• they had occupied the same dwelling since that date (except for any period where a fire, flood, explosion or natural catastrophe made the property uninhabitable).

The DWP issued an “urgent bulletin” saying that tenants meeting these specific criteria should have the cut in their housing benefit removed. And it said that any deductions made from this group since last April should be refunded by councils.

Legal challenges to the “bedroom tax” and Benefits Cap fail

A group of disabled tenants lost their legal challenge to the bedroom tax at the Court of Appeal in February 2014. They argued that the new Housing Benefit rules were unlawful, but although the court recognised that disabled people had a need for accommodation not provided by the new rules, it ruled against their challenge.

Ugo Hayter, from the law firm Leigh Day, represented two people with disabilities who argued that their second bedroom is essential.

“We are extremely disappointed by this judgment and we are baffled by the findings of the Court of Appeal,” he said, adding “the Court decided that disabled tenants should not have their housing needs met on an equivalent basis to their able-bodied counterparts, just because they are disabled.”

He said that the bedroom tax was forcing disabled people to rely on short-term and discretionary payments. They are currently considering an appeal to the Supreme Court.

Anne McMurdie of Public Law Solicitors, whose firm acts for three tenants, said they were having to make the “dreadful choice between paying the rent and buying food or heating their homes”.

“Disabled tenants are not asking for extra funds — they are asking for housing benefit to be paid at a level which meets their needs — for the same right as others. Discretionary payments are not the answer,” she said.

Meanwhile, two women who fled their homes with their children to escape domestic violence failed to convince the judges that the Benefit Cap violates the human rights of vulnerable families. The Court of Appeal ruled against the families, who have been forced into temporary accommodation as a result of the cap.