Bedroom Tax

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If you have a spare bedroom and you’re renting a council or housing association property, then your Housing Benefit, or housing costs element of Universal Credit might be reduced. This is often referred to as the ‘Bedroom Tax’ or the ‘under-occupation penalty’ or the ‘removal of the spare room subsidy’.

Examples of people who may be affected include:

couples or single, working age people, who live in a two-bed property
families living in a three-bed (or more) property where children could share a bedroom
foster carers (foster children are not counted household members for benefit purposes)
separated parents with shared care of children. Only the main carer will be allowed the extra bedroom
disabled customers who have an extra bedroom but do not have an overnight carer
customers with disabled children who have their own bedroom but would be expected to share with other children

Please see the Frequently Asked Questions below for detailed information on this.

Frequently asked questions

Who does the "Bedroom Tax" affect?

You may be affected if:

You are working age and you’re classed as having a spare bedroom
You get Housing Benefit (or the housing element of Universal Credit)
You rent your home from the council, a housing association or a registered social landlord

The following rules are used when working out whether you have a spare room:

Two children under 16 of the same gender are expected to share
Two children under 10 are expected to share regardless of their gender
You are allowed one bedroom for each person over 16 or couple in a household.

You can click here to calculate if your property is the right size for your needs and if the bedroom tax will apply to you.

How many bedrooms can I have?

According to the government policy, the following rules are used when working out whether you have a spare room:

You are allowed one bedroom for each adult or couple living as part of the household
Two children under 16 of the same gender are expected to share
Two children under 10 are expected to share regardless of their gender
If you or your partner receive regular overnight care from a carer (or team of carers), you’re allowed an additional bedroom
If you are an approved foster carer, you’re allowed an extra bedroom
An extra bedroom is allowed for a severely disabled child who is getting either the middle or higher rate of either component of Disability Living Allowance, and is unable to share a room because of their disability

How much Housing Benefit will you lose?

If you’re affected, your eligible Housing Benefit (or the housing element of Universal Credit) is cut by:

14% for one extra bedroom
25% for two or more extra bedrooms

So, for example, if your rent is currently £380 per month, your benefit is cut by:

£53.20 per month for one extra bedroom
£95 per month for two extra bedrooms

What is working age?

Working age means anyone over 18 and who has not yet reached state pension age. Your state pension age depends on when you were born. Please click here to calculate your state pension age.

What counts as a bedroom?

Your tenancy agreement will officially state how many bedrooms your property has, and this is what will be used by the DWP to calculate if you are occupying or under-occupying the property.

What about children who are away at University?

If the student is not claiming Housing Benefit at their student address, they are coming home regularly, and their room has not been sublet, then they should still be viewed as occupying the property as their home and therefore will require a bedroom.

What happens if there is a death in my household?

There may be some circumstances where a customer is seen as under occupying their home because of a death in the household. In these circumstances, the bedroom tax would not apply for 12 months, or until there was another change in circumstances.

Is there anything that can be done to help my situation?

There may be options, depending on your individual circumstances. You should contact your Income Officer in the first instance to discuss your situation. You can find their contact details here.