About bedroom tax

Bedroom tax (also known as under occupancy charge or the spare room subsidy) was introduced as part of the Welfare Reforms in April 2013. This means that if you live in a property with one or more spare rooms, you will receive less entitlement to Housing Benefit .

If you have one spare bedroom, you will lose 14% of your entitled housing benefit.

If you have two or more spare bedrooms, you will lose 25% of your Housing Benefit entitlement.

The tax applies if you receive Housing Benefit or Universal Credit and are of working age. Working age means anyone between the ages of 16 and pensionable age.

The bedroom tax will not affect you if you:

• receive a state pension
• rent a shared ownership property
• have a severely disabled child who requires a room of their own
• are a foster carer
• are in the Armed Forces
• require the use of a room for an overnight carer and this has been agreed by your local authority.
• are in temporary or supported accommodation.

Children of both sexes under the age of 10 are expected to share a bedroom.  

Children of the same gender under the age of 16 would be expected to share a bedroom.

Couples and adults are entitled to have bedrooms of their own.

If you share access to a child only one parent can claim the bedroom tax allowance.

If you have a spare room and want to stay in your home, you must increase your payments to make up for the shortfall in your Housing Benefit .

You may wish to take in a lodger. Before you do this, you will need to seek permission from us.

You can swap your home with someone else who needs more bedrooms than you currently have. However, you must seek permission from us before you can do so.

You can apply to downsize your home.

You would need to seek permission from us before taking a lodger.

You will also need to contact your insurance company, as your policy may not cover the lodger for loss or damage to their contents.

You must speak to our Income Team immediately on 0300 131 7300 or email IncomeTeam@isha.co.uk. We can give you helpful advice, but your rent must be paid to avoid any action being taken against you for non-payment.