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By (user no longer on site)
over a year ago
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found this in the Government website.
From April 2013 every working age social housing tenant will have their Housing Benefit award reviewed to assess whether they are living in a property the Government thinks is larger than they need. This change will not affect people who will be Pension Credit age or over. You will be ‘allowed’ one bedroom for each person or couple living as part of your household. And where you have children, two children under 10 will be expected to share a bedroom, and two children under 16 of the same sex will be expected to share. So this proposal will affect working age Housing Benefit claimants, who, amongst others are:
Single and living alone in two (or more) bedroom properties (even where a second bedroom is needed due to access to children / medical equipment)
Couples living alone in two (or more) bedroom properties (even where the second bedroom is needed due to disability where there is no outside care, or for when grandchildren etc stay)
Families in three (or more) bedroomed accommodation where children could be deemed to share a bedroom, ie two same sex children under 16, or two aged under 10 regardless of sex
Families with foster children will also be affected as foster children are not considered to be part of the claimant’s ‘household’ when working out what size property is needed. - NO LONGER THE CASE SEE BELOW
As of March 2013, the Government has made some changes to the bedroom tax criteria, as follows:
Severely Disabled Children - it is NOT TRUE that families with severely disabled children are now excluded from the Bedroom Tax. Instead, in some circumstances, a severely disabled child is to be allowed their own bedroom - this is if they would seriously disrupt the sleep of another child at night if they were to share a bedroom. Depending on the make up of the family and the number of bedrooms, even if this child is allowed their own bedroom, the family could still be affected by the Bedroom Tax.
Foster Carers - it is NOT TRUE that approved foster carers are now excluded from the Bedroom Tax. They will however be allocated an extra bedroom. Guidance tells HB office that families with more than one foster child, who are affected by the Bedroom Tax, will be able to apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment.
Adult children in Armed Forces - it is NOT TRUE that tenants who have children in the Armed Forces are now excluded from the Bedroom Tax. Instead the new rules are expected to say that an adult child in the Armed Forces, who normally lives at home, will be treated as living at home and therefore allocated a bedroom whilst away on operations - and that no non-dependant deduction will apply whilst they are away.
Other changes/announcements:
Bedroom Size - whilst there are rules around what constitutes a bedroom for overoccupation rules - this does NOT apply to the Bedroom Tax. The number of bedrooms in the house (whatever their size and whatever they are being used for) is dictated by the number of bedrooms the landlord is charging for. There has been a rumour on social media sites, about room size/box rooms - see below for the official response.
DHP budget - the extra £30 million being put in the DHP budget due to the Bedroom Tax has been reduced by £5 million due to the concession now being given to foster carers in the Regulations.
Will I be allowed an extra room due to my disabilities?
Generally the answer to this question will be no. For example if you and your partner sleep in separate bedrooms or you use a spare bedroom for medical equipment, or you have a disabled child who has their own bedroom where they have a brother or sister they could share with, then no extra bedroom will be allowed regardless of how genuine the need for it.
The only time you will be allowed an extra bedroom due to disability is where you have a non-household carer where: you or your partner receive the mid or high rate CARE component of Disability Living Allowance AND need overnight care AND a non-household member uses a bedroom to stay overnight to provide care to you or your partner.
How much will the reduction be?
The plan is to reduce someone’s Housing Benefit by 14% of their rent if they have one ‘extra’ bedroom, or by 25% of their rent if they have two or more ‘extra’ bedrooms.
This reduction will be applied to your weekly Housing Benefit award, and may mean that you come off Housing Benefit altogether. It will be up to YOU to pay this to your landlord to make up the reduction in your Housing Benefit, even if you have always had full Housing Benefit
before.
For example, if someone is deemed to be underoccupying their property and their rent is £80 a week, their Housing Benefit will be reduced by £11.20 a week if they have one ‘extra’ bedroom; or by £20 a week if they have two or more ‘extra’ bedrooms. They will then have to pay this amount out of their other income to their landlord. They will then have to pay this amount out of their other income, even if they have always had full Housing Benefit before.
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