Housing Solicitors

The number of households hit by the bedroom tax could be four times the number predicted by the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Iain Duncan Smith – with many households being wrongly charged the tax.

Figures from 175 Local Authorities show that 19,140 homes were wrongly subjected to the bedroom tax after it was introduced.

Mr Duncan Smith said that around 5,000 homes would be affected by the tax across the UK’s 364 Local Authorities.

Labour revealed the number of homes wrongly charged the bedroom tax after making a Freedom of Information request from local councils.

A loophole in the eligibility criteria for the bedroom tax means that social housing tenants who have lived continuously in the same property since 1996 should not have been charged the tax.

However, Mr Duncan Smith is being accused of failing to act to close the loophole – and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has not so far backtracked on its original estimate of just 5,000 tenants in social housing being eligible to pay the bedroom tax.

Many tenants with spare bedrooms who have had their housing benefit cut say they are now unable to afford to live in their homes – and some council tenants have had to move to smaller homes.

As a result of the bedroom tax – which is imposed if a social housing tenant has a spare bedroom which is not permanently occupied – some three-bedroom properties in areas like Liverpool have been left untenanted because social housing tenants are unable to afford the rent on them under the new housing benefit rules.

Referring to the revelation about the number of tenants wrongly charged bedroom tax, Labour Shadow Welfare Secretary Chris Bryant said:

“Mr Duncan Smith is in total denial over the numbers hit by his loophole blunder.

“Despite Tory, Liberal and Labour councils across the UK contradicting him, he refuses to accept he was wrong.”

Last week at the Court of Appeal, five social housing tenants with disabilities lost their appeal against the bedroom tax, when judges ruled that the government’s welfare cuts do not breach human rights.

Disability campaigners opposed to the bedroom tax are vowing to fight on despite the ruling – many disabled people say they need a spare bedroom available when friends, family and carers to stay.

Once the figures from all 364 councils are returned, the current total of households wrongly charged bedroom tax could double – meaning as many as 40,000 households could end up wrongly being charged the bedroom tax.

The bedroom tax loophole is due to be closed before April and it is thought Mr Duncan Smith will also review the £2.5million compensation fund set up to help those worst affected by their cut in housing benefit.

Mr Bryant is calling for the government to “ditch” the tax – and added that if Labour were elected in 2015, the party would abolish the bedroom tax.

Duncan Lewis Housing Solicitors

Duncan Lewis can advise on a range of housing matters including:

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

Duncan Lewis is also a leading Legal Aid solicitor.

For expert legal advice on housing and housing benefit, contact Duncan Lewis Housing solicitors on 020 7923 4020.