Appealing the Bedroom Tax

mysterywoman10

Please find below a standard letter which ALL affected tenants can use if they wish to send to their LA.



Standard Letter

Dear Sirs,

I received your decision letter dated INSERT DATE and referenced above that imposed an under occupation charge, or bedroom tax of 14% / 25% (delete as appropriate) on my existing award of Housing Benefit.
I consider this unwarranted yet in order to challenge this in the correct way and potentially by way of formal appeal I require further information to be sent to me within 7 days of this letter and the urgency of that is to ensure I have enough time to formulate any such appeal and in full knowledge of the facts of my case within the time allowed; OR in the alternative I request the deadline for any such formal appeal be moved to 21 days after I receive the request information below:
1. A written copy of the Council’s policy and decision-making procedures in relation to referring a socially housed claimant decision to the Rent Officer Service.
2. A full explanation of how the council decided that (INSERT ADDRESS) was determined to be a 3 bed property for the under occupation charge and this to include what involvement if any of my landlord, (INSERT LANDLORD NAME) in this process.
Please state by way of covering letter with the requested information any changed deadline date from above with regard to a formal appeal.

Yours etc

mysterywoman10

* change bedroom figure as appropriate

Updated letter and I am not the author.

Dear Sirs,
I received your decision letter dated INSERT DATE and referenced above that imposed an under occupation charge, or bedroom tax of 14% / 25% (delete as appropriate) on my existing award of Housing Benefit.
I consider this unwarranted yet in order to challenge this in the correct way and potentially by way of formal appeal I require further information to be sent to me within 7 days of this letter and the urgency of that is to ensure I have enough time to formulate any such appeal and in full knowledge of the facts of my case within the time allowed; OR in the alternative I request the deadline for any such formal appeal be moved to 21 days after I receive the request information below:
1. A written copy of the Council’s policy and decision-making procedures in relation to referring a socially housed claimant decision to the Rent Officer Service.
2. A full explanation of how the council decided that (INSERT ADDRESS) was determined to be a 3 bed property for the under occupation charge and this to include what involvement if any of my landlord, (INSERT LANDLORD NAME) in this process.
Please state by way of covering letter with the requested information any changed deadline date from above with regard to a formal appeal.
Yours etc

harveybobbles

But if the tenancy in which you signed, says "3 bedroom house" then its a 3 bedroom house.

You could just apply to your local housing/council for descretionary housing benefit first.

sovilla

I thought that if it was a tennancy with a landlord or letting agent then you didnt get HB you got a Local housing Allowance which isnt changing and the "bedroom tax" didnt apply. I thought it was just council properties and housing association properties that this applies to.

Or am I not understanding this whole thread.

iluvmarmite

As above, they will just say it states it's a 3 bedroomed house on your tenancy agreement, if you appeal it will go to the relevant department who will say unless you fall into one of the exempt categories then there are no grounds for appeal as they are just doing what the government tells them to do.

If thousands send an appeal letter in it will just clog up the system, might be a good thing if you want to cause mayhem within the department but they will get through them eventually and if some haven't been paying the reduction in the hope they will win the appeal then they will have lots of arrears to pay back when they lose.

This is not the local councils fault and I guess many are as flummoxed by the rules and regulations as we are but by giving them more work will not stop the reductions as only the government can do that. I was affected by this untill a couple of weeks ago so know how awful it is having to worry about how you are going to manage, and I really am against it but I also am against giving false hope.

pipkin71

Who is the original author of this letter?

Thomas_Hardy

mysterywoman10 wrote: »

Please find below a standard letter which ALL affected tenants can use if they wish to send to their LA.



Standard Letter

Dear Sirs,

I received your decision letter dated INSERT DATE and referenced above that imposed an under occupation charge, or bedroom tax of 14% / 25% (delete as appropriate) on my existing award of Housing Benefit.
I consider this unwarranted yet in order to challenge this in the correct way and potentially by way of formal appeal I require further information to be sent to me within 7 days of this letter and the urgency of that is to ensure I have enough time to formulate any such appeal and in full knowledge of the facts of my case within the time allowed; OR in the alternative I request the deadline for any such formal appeal be moved to 21 days after I receive the request information below:
1. A written copy of the Council’s policy and decision-making procedures in relation to referring a socially housed claimant decision to the Rent Officer Service.
2. A full explanation of how the council decided that (INSERT ADDRESS) was determined to be a 3 bed property for the under occupation charge and this to include what involvement if any of my landlord, (INSERT LANDLORD NAME) in this process.
Please state by way of covering letter with the requested information any changed deadline date from above with regard to a formal appeal.

Yours etc

A poorly written letter that will not achieve the desired result. If you do not believe you have the number of bedrooms they claim, you would be better to write something along the following lines:

I wish to appeal your decision to reduce my housing benefit due to the introduction of the under occupancy charge. In your letter dated xxx you state that I have three bedrooms, however I believe the property only has two bedrooms.

In order to formulate a full statement of appeal, I would be grateful that you explain how my property was determined to have three bedrooms, including any policies to which you may have referred in making this decision.

I would ask that you do not consider my appeal until I have submitted the full statement of appeal. This will be forwarded to you within two weeks of my receiving the above information.

Yours sincerely ...

This means you have already submitted your appeal, but you have extra time to submit a full statement. It also goes to the point of the problem, not some non specific ramble which won't even answer your query.

pipkin71

mysterywoman10 wrote: »

Dear Sirs,

I received your decision letter dated INSERT DATE and referenced above that imposed an under occupation charge, or bedroom tax of 14% / 25% (delete as appropriate) on my existing award of Housing Benefit.
I consider this unwarranted yet in order to challenge this in the correct way and potentially by way of formal appeal I require further information to be sent to me within 7 days of this letter and the urgency of that is to ensure I have enough time to formulate any such appeal and in full knowledge of the facts of my case within the time allowed; OR in the alternative I request the deadline for any such formal appeal be moved to 21 days after I receive the request information below:
1. A written copy of the Council’s policy and decision-making procedures in relation to referring a socially housed claimant decision to the Rent Officer Service.
2. A full explanation of how the council decided that (INSERT ADDRESS) was determined to be a 3 bed property for the under occupation charge and this to include what involvement if any of my landlord, (INSERT LANDLORD NAME) in this process.
Please state by way of covering letter with the requested information any changed deadline date from above with regard to a formal appeal.

Yours etc

What is the correct way to challenge the housing benefit reduction?

Who are council tenants going to appeal to?

If the tenant signed the agreement for a two bed or a three bed property, why do they need information to say where this information was gathered? Can councils access this information within the timeframe?

What happens if deadlines are not met?

---

Is this a legal letter, written up by a solicitor, which will have some weight in a court of law?

If the council ignore this letter, what legal ramifications are there?

Is this letter basically stalling tactics and not worth the paper it is written on or is it legally binding and likely to exempt people from paying the shortfall?

Where did the letter originate? Is the letter and any appeal likely to remove the reduction in housing benefits?

Will tenants have to seek legal advice in order to appeal and will they receive financial assistance or will they have to finance any appeal themselves?

Sorry for all the questions but I like to know all the facts before passing on these sorts of things to people who may benefit from them

pipkin71

Thomas_Hardy wrote: »

A poorly written letter that will not achieve the desired result. If you do not believe you have the number of bedrooms they claim, you would be better to write something along the following lines:

I wish to appeal your decision to reduce my housing benefit due to the introduction of the under occupancy charge. In your letter dated xxx you state that I have three bedrooms, however I believe the property only has two bedrooms.

In order to formulate a full statement of appeal, I would be grateful that you explain how my property was determined to have three bedrooms, including any policies to which you may have referred in making this decision.

I would ask that you do not consider my appeal until I have submitted the full statement of appeal. This will be forwarded to you within two weeks of my receiving the above information.

Yours sincerely ...

This means you have already submitted your appeal, but you have extra time to submit a full statement. It also goes to the point of the problem, not some non specific ramble which won't even answer your query.

I thought it was poorly written, hence asking where it originated and wondered if it was a letter the OP came up with.

Your letter makes more sense. How likely is it that councils will re-evaluate bedrooms following receipt of such a letter, do you think?

pipkin71

iluvmarmite wrote: »

If thousands send an appeal letter in it will just clog up the system, might be a good thing if you want to cause mayhem within the department but they will get through them eventually and if some haven't been paying the reduction in the hope they will win the appeal then they will have lots of arrears to pay back when they lose.

This could be an issue.

I would suggest, even if appealing, that those affected either pay the shortfall, or save the shortfall in a separate account so that they are not left in huge arrears and face the possibility of eviction due to falling behind.

Dunroamin

sovilla wrote: »

I thought that if it was a tennancy with a landlord or letting agent then you didnt get HB you got a Local housing Allowance which isnt changing and the "bedroom tax" didnt apply. I thought it was just council properties and housing association properties that this applies to.

Or am I not understanding this whole thread.

The council or housing association is the landlord.