Housing Solicitors

Researchers at the University of Cambridge say that the “bedroom tax” may be fundamentally flawed because more than half the homes in England are smaller than the present-day standard of space recommended for homes.

The researchers found that homes in England are among the smallest in Europe and that a spare bedroom is therefore necessary to cover other uses.

The study also reveals that tenants in receipt of housing benefit are more likely to occupy homes with less floor space – and the researchers have suggested that cutting benefit from these households in the form of the bedroom tax is “misguided”.

An average new-build home in the UK is just 76 square metres – almost half the average floor space for a new-build home in Denmark, where the average home measures 137 square metres.

The population of the UK also has an imbalance of one- and two-person households – but much of the current housing stock is designed with three or four bedrooms to accommodate the traditional nuclear family.

Many of those affected by the bedroom tax are disabled tenants, as well as elderly tenants who have spent most of their lives in the same home, having brought up a family there. Once children leave the home, the tenant is left with one spare bedroom at least.

Many public housing tenants with disabilities or who are elderly say they need a spare room for when carers or family stay overnight.

There has also been an issue surrounding a lack of smaller one- and two-bedroom properties for tenants affected by the bedroom tax to move to – many Local Authorities sold off smaller properties to private tenants, who then went on to rent the homes to private sector tenants.

In some areas of the country, local councils are finding it hard to let three- and four-bedroom properties because tenants cannot afford them.

The 1980 Local Government, Planning and Land Act removed the requirement for minimum standards of space in Britain’s new-build homes, meaning properties built after 1980 have gradually been getting smaller.

Lead researcher, PhD student Malcolm Morgan – from Cambridge University’s Department of Engineering – said:

“The bedroom tax looks strictly at the number of bedrooms and not at the total available space per person.

“Spare bedrooms are a misconception in many homes, as the lack of space means that any extra bedrooms are needed for other uses.”

The researchers used the 2010 London Housing Design Guide as the basis of their research – and discovered that 55% of homes failed the recommendations set out by the guide.

When the figures were adjusted for the current total number of residents in a property, 21% still failed the guide’s recommendations, with flats and smaller terraced properties most commonly below the recommended minimum standards for space.

Those considered “under-occupied” were most likely to be so because of the lack of space, the researchers concluded. Mr Morgan said:

“We hope that this new method of measuring space can be used to inform future housing policy.

“The calculation method used to implement the bedroom tax makes no consideration of internal space, which is adversely affecting people’s quality of life.”

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors

Duncan Lewis housing solicitors can advise rental tenants on a wide range of housing matters, including:

• Disrepair of rental property
• Housing benefit
• Housing possession
• Landlord & Tenant disputes
• Local Authority housing
• Unlawful eviction.

Duncan Lewis housing solicitors can also advise owner-occupiers on debt and mortgage repossession.

For expert legal advice on housing law, contact Duncan Lewis housing solicitors on 020 7923 4020.