Bedroom Tax Question?

[Njw1975ed]

If I choose to rent a property but claim rent rebate, would I be stung with bedroom tax if under occupied??

[Mamyalynne]

You will only get Housing Benefit for the amount of bedrooms you need, if the rent is higher than that - you pay the difference.

[factor-fiction]

Do you mean would all your rent be paid for you or only sufficient to cover the number of rooms that are deemed as necessary.
Are you a private tenant or a council or housng association tenant?

[bednobs]

what is rent rebate? Are you in England? do you mean housing benefit?

[dave50]

It only applies to social housing, not private properties.

[bednobs]

i'm not sure that's true dave - doesn't it apply to everyone who claims HB?

[factor-fiction]

I recall it works differently for private renting, bednobs, but I can't remember exactly how it differs

[Mamyalynne]

For a long time now even in private tenancies you only get the Housing Benefit that covers your bedroom needs.


You can choose to rent a five bedroom house but will only get the amount for a one bed property if you are single, for example.

[scorpiojo]

If you are renting privately, check your local housing allowance rates which is the maximum housing benefit payable depending on the number of occupants.

[New Judge]

No it only applies to "Social" housing, bednobs. See this:

http://www.housing.org.uk/publications/browse/welfare-reform-act-2012-key-issues

"It also introduces a new size criteria or ‘bedroom tax’ in the social rented sector."

[factor-fiction]

That's what I meant, Mamya- maybe we are all at cross purposes. I just meant the 'bedroom tax' only affects HA/council housing (hence my question at 12:55)- there is no bedroom tax for private renters because some other process is already in place.. Are there also some differences about how the housing benefit/rent is paid- whether it goes direct to 'landlord' or via the tenant

[New Judge]

And just to add, Njw, nobody is being "stung" with any form of tax. What is happening is that benefits are only being provided to meet people's needs - a slightly different concept to a "tax".

[Mamyalynne]

The reason for the recent outcry is that this has changed the situation for many,whereas in private it has been the norm for years and we have just become accustomed to it.

Not to say we do not protest, I have HM Rent Tribunals visiting me on Friday to challenge a rent hike.

[Peter Pedant]

Q: If I choose to rent a property but claim rent rebate, would I be stung with bedroom tax if under occupied??

claim Local Housing Allowance {LHA] - the old name is Housing Benefit - but the rules differ

stung with bedroom tax - well yeah and no. The assessment is your circumstances and the members of your household, income if any, etc

if you rent a three bedroom house and are single you will be assessed, as a single occupant and the ceiling for that in Manch is £450. - no matter what the rent is


It is possible to get a pre-tenancy determination from your council where you put in the details of the intended rental and they tell you if they will pay.

and Yes in the private sector - the reduction for too many bedrooms = bedroom tax does apply.

The idea for the bedroom tax apparently was to force various tenants to pay a proportion of the rent. In fact everyone uprooted (you can get a moving allowance apparently ) and went into smaller cheaper accommodation. The difficulty was that the rent for 1-room shot up as the demand was so great. So there has been minimal saving but a huge amount of disruption

[ToraToraTora]

There is no such thing as "bedroom tax".