General Chat

But, as I said earlier, how can it be proved they're a lodger and not a co-habitee?
It's yet another loophole.
'He/she's not my partner, they're my lodger'.
So not only can they still claim housing benefit, they can (illegally) still claim child benefits.

Well they've left a loophole!

The Department for Work and Pensions has not capped how much they can earn from a lodger or boarder before it affects their benefits claim. So while they would be an average £11 a week worse off because of benefit cuts on spare bedrooms they could net up to an average £100 a week in rent by becoming landlords and still claim welfare.

The loophole emerged as the Commons Public Accounts Committee investigated the impact of housing benefit reform. Under current rules a housing benefit claimant can charge rent on a spare room only up to a certain limit before it affects their benefits. Under the new Universal Credit system, however, all income from lodgers will be ignored.

Do you think there maybe a baby boom just to fill those extra bedrooms :-D :-D

twice ive seen lads of facebook offering to be doners
to fill them empty rooms no strings attached

i hope they are joking ;-)

Also their are some people with a parlour house and their HA have classed their property as having an extra bedroom ( the parlour ) but if the room has a serving hatch they can't :-S all so confusing isn't it. The sooner it is got rid of the better.

Joy that does not apply with BT, if your HA has put what you call a box room down on your tennacy agreement as a bedroom then the only way you can avoid the BT is if you ask your HA to re-classify it as not being a bedroom.
Also by the law your refer to you would not be allowed to rent the room to a lodger, so it's one rule for lodgers were size is concerned but another for tennants were BT is concerned. You can check this out with the Bedroom Tax group on FB were they will give you link's to website's saying what I have said.

Re minimum bedroom size:

"Standards are also set to ensure that dwellings are not overcrowded. For example, the minimum bedroom size for a child under 10 is 50sq feet (4.65m2), and for an adult it is 70 sq feet (6.51m2). The number of occupants is measured against the total number of habitable rooms in the dwelling (i.e. bedroom and living room) and account is taken of the size of these rooms."

"The Housing (overcrowding) Act 2003 Bill - states that a room can not be classed as a bedroom if it is less than 50 square feet [4.65m2].

If it is over 50 square feet but less than 70 square feet than it is suitable for a child under ten years old. It is over 70 square feet then it is deemed acceptable for anyone over 10 years of age."

That's interesting, Joy.

I had an awful thought the other night.
When I was a single parent, my brother stayed with me for a while (essentially a non-paying lodger). Now, I'm a divorcee, and still use my married name.
The council noticed my brother was here, because, being honest, I started paying full council tax.
Although I was working, I still received benefits.
They tried to stop my benefits, because, I was apparently co-habiting!!
It took forever to get them to realise his surname was the same as my maiden name - even then, they tried to say it was coincidence.
There are just over 450 people in Britain with the same surname - an amazing coincidence!

So, what happens when a single parent takes in a real lodger?
How will the benefits agency determine whether it is a real lodger, or they are co-habiting?
Very difficult now the government has considered it acceptable for older children of the opposite sex to share the same bedroom.

a bedroom under 70sq ft is classed as a box room so doesnt count :-D

"It is important to add that:

• The 14% or 25% reduction is based on the rent eligible to be paid by Housing Benefit, not the amount of Housing Benefit actually paid. This means that if you receive partial Housing Benefit you will have exactly the same reduction for under-occupancy in cash terms as someone receiving full Housing Benefit."

http://www.twocastles.org.uk/your-money/benefits-and-welfare-reform/bedroom-tax/will-i-be-affected

Terry I'm not sure of that one as I don't know if it is 14%/25% of full rent or 14%/25% of the benefits you recieve, I'll go and ask my group on FB and see if they know.

another sting in the tail as i understand it
if you do not qualify for full housing benefit and have extra bedrooms
your benefit is cut by the percentage of the full rent not of the benefit you recieve

Interesting ....

http://www.guardian.co.uk/housing-network/2013/feb/26/tenants-exempted-bedroom-tax-reclassify

Today is the day when the chancellor and a small team of senior civil servants and political advisers gather at his country retreat Dorneywood House which has "21 rooms" to discuss what to do in the Budget on 20 March.

I wonder if he will be discussing ways to avoid the Bedroom Tax and Mansion Tax ;-)

Putting people into private accommodation will result in MORE housing benefit than leaving them where they are.

Don't the plonkers in government realise that buying a house is now out of most people's pockets, and selling off council houses is only going to lead to less houses for those on an average income to live in, and what is needed is MORE 2 and 3 bedroomed social housing houses to be built.

Unlike the government (all parties) the majority of the population don't have 'mummies & daddies' with a spare mansion or two that the children can move in to.

The government seem to think that those on low incomes are there by their own fault, ie, if you'd worked hard enough in your youth, (not that they did - they worked for 'daddy' or 'uncle' on a fast track) you too could have become a millionaire.
But where would they be without their underpaid cleaners and nannies?.......not forgetting police, nurses and care workers - someone's got to wipe granny's bottom, and care workers in private homes, are, as a rule paid less than those in council run homes.

my wife works for qa local housing ass.
there chief exec thinks that the bedroom tax combined with the universal benefit will result in aprox 1 million pounds in rent arears
the only way you can get a property from them at the moment is to come out of prison or a hostel
all the housing officers are having to visit all effected tennents to explain the situation to them
if you are a couple with a child under 10 you are classed as only needing 1 bedroom
more information here
http://www.channel4.com/news/the-bedroom-tax-the-key-questions
in private accomadation you do not get housing benefit you ge local housing allowance where they pay the decread local rate which is usually lower than what you will be paying
under 30 and single you are only entitled in bham to£50 week for a room in a shared house
under 25 you are entitled to nothing so if you left home due to abuse or family breakdown too bad

I know one housing association in Scotland has reclassified it's property. Problems may occur on those who were getting HB for a 2 bedroom, when it's been re-calssified as a 1 bedroom - will they have to pay the extra back?

Having said that, around here, the difference in rent between a 1 bedroom council flat & a 3 bedroom council house is £5!!
Cheaper to pay the overpayment back than the £14 per room.

Hi all
not been on the threads for a few week's but as I put this up I thought I'd better show my miserable face.
This whole thing has really got to me and I'm not coping well at all,

If your HA / Landlord has deemed your property as 2/3 or 4 bedroom that is what it is whether or not you use the extra room as something else, if it says 2 bedroom on your rent agreement that is what it is even if you use it as a study/ dining room/ craft room or something else, the only way to get round this is if your HA / Landlord were to reclassify your property.

If you want to learn more about different loopholes that are being looked into and you are on Facebook there is a group called = Bedroom Tax...think its unfair..join the fight here, if you put that into the search bar in should take you to the group.

take care all

Diane ( Liverpool Lass ) x

There's also a small loophole - what if you use a spare bedroom as a study? Can it be insisted it's a bedroom if you don't use it as one?
If that's the case, then anyone in accommodation, with a seperate dining room could soon find themselves paying bedroom tax on the dining room, as it COULD be used as a bedroom!

not sure how this bedroom tax thing is going to work. Its all very well if its just a bedroom, but what about kitchen and bathroom facilities. That is a real intrusion on a family imo. Also how are overheads, such as heating etc., going to be shared.
Alot more thought will have to go into this, to make it effective.

Sue

Heard on the radio this morning, they're talking about changing Article 8 of the human rights act:

"1. Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence.

2. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."

To stop terrorists using it to stay in this country.

.....I wonder if it can be used against the bedroom tax - or perhaps that's the real reason they want to change the wording....

By insisting that married couples SHOULD sleep in the same bedroom, even if they never have in the past, isn't that against number 1?
There was a case of a woman with emphysemia, who's husband slept in the second bedroom, because, as the woman said, when she slept, it sounded like a steam train!!

http://www.liberty-human-rights.org.uk/human-rights/human-rights/the-human-rights-act/what-the-rights-mean/article-8-right-to-a-private-and-family-life.php