Bedroom tax: size matters sometimes

A new Housing Benefit Upper Tribunal decision means that Housing Act 1985 overcrowding rules cannot be applied in bedroom tax cases

This means that you cannot challenge a bedroom tax decision just on the basis of the size of a room.

The judgment says that a room capable of being a bedroom should be classed as such regardless of what the room is actually being used for. This ruling therefore affects any disabled person who uses a bedroom to store important medical equipment.

However the decision does say that the size of a room may be important when considered with other factors such as:

• whether the room space is big enough to accommodate a single bed
• the height of the room
• whether there is adequate ventilation
• the lighting of the room
• whether the room has a window

This means that, if you want to appeal against a room being considered a bedroom, a decision maker should give reasons if they make a decision that the room is a bedroom. Simply relying on the number of bedrooms reported by the landlord will not be enough.

You can view our full summary of the decision plus a link to the decision itself at http://disabilityrightsuk.org/news/2013/november/latest-posted-decision-summaries