Bedroom tax appeal

lld01

solvent2254 wrote: »

To be honest i find it hillarious this goverment scheme..if your on benefits you got to pay but if your in social housing and not claiming you dont need to pay..although they might not even be using the room. My attitude is across the board or nothing,not half assed rules.

It's because its a reduction in benefits, not a tax.

Besides, if your not claiming HB then you are already paying!

lld01

Gazzanoo wrote: »

Property was only altered about 8 years ago and was not classified as a bedroom when we rented it, it was offered to us as a 1 bedroom groundfloor flat. But seemed to be reclassified when the bedroom tax came in.

So it states 1 bedroom on the tenancy agreement?

Housing_Benefit_Officer

iluvmarmite wrote: »

I'm not sure housing benefit officer is actually a HB officer at all, he/she has stated an incorrect regulation when it comes to gaining exemption for having a non resident overnight carer, I personally would not trust him/her as this sort of incorrect information could lead to those who qualify to be exempt not actually bothering to fill in the forms because they believe that a member of this forum is a HB officer and has given correct information.

You may notice this as my signature: 'These are my own views and you should seek advice from your local Benefits Department or CAB.'

There is no definition on how long an overnight carer needs to provide overnight care in the regulations. It is at the discretion of each local authority to define if that person is actually receiving care from an overnight carer or a team of overnight carers and for what periods of time and frequency that person receives that care. If the Government would be good enough to define this in the legislation then it would make things a lot easier for everyone and add consistency across the country.

Just because someone receives DLA C at Middle or Higher rate wouldn't necessarily mean they are receiving overnight care. A Local Authority could ask for details from a Doctor or Social Services. Benefit Departments have access to Social Services records. Guidance states those who receive infrequent or periodic care should be regularly reviewed to ensure they are actually receiving the care they claim they are receiving and not just using it as an excuse to stop their benefit being reduced.

Morlock

lld01 wrote: »

It's because its a reduction in benefits, not a tax.

Besides, if your not claiming HB then you are already paying!

Which makes a mockery of the claims that bedroom tax is necessary to help the X amount of people on housing waiting lists by freeing up under-occupied social housing.

Considering that the DWP assessment states that estimated savings of £450 million will only be realised if no under-occupiers move, it becomes obvious that it is a policy designed to do nothing but cut the housing benefit of those who can least afford it.

But at least it will incentivise those claimants to work a few more hours a week if they choose to do so, so no problem.

neverdespairgirl

solvent2254 wrote: »

To be honest i find it hillarious this goverment scheme..if your on benefits you got to pay but if your in social housing and not claiming you dont need to pay..although they might not even be using the room. My attitude is across the board or nothing,not half assed rules.

The reason for it is about who should pay for extra rooms, whether the state should or not.

Jamie_Carter

Gazzanoo wrote: »

Property was only altered about 8 years ago and was not classified as a bedroom when we rented it, it was offered to us as a 1 bedroom groundfloor flat. But seemed to be reclassified when the bedroom tax came in.

Building regs change all the time, so you would need to find out if it complied 8 years ago.

If you find that it didn't comply, then they can't class it as a bedroom.

If it was classed as 1 bedroom when you originally rented it, then I don't see how they can change that now.

Jamie_Carter

Morlock wrote: »

Which makes a mockery of the claims that bedroom tax is necessary to help the X amount of people on housing waiting lists by freeing up under-occupied social housing.

Considering that the DWP assessment states that estimated savings of £450 million will only be realised if no under-occupiers move, it becomes obvious that it is a policy designed to do nothing but cut the housing benefit of those who can least afford it.

But at least it will incentivise those claimants to work a few more hours a week if they choose to do so, so no problem.

I personally know of two families who are down sizing due to this bedroom tax. So they have now freed up a much needed 3 bedroom house.

I just wish that they would get jobs so that I (as a tax payer) wasn't still paying for their housing.

Jamie_Carter

solvent2254 wrote: »

To be honest i find it hillarious this goverment scheme..if your on benefits you got to pay but if your in social housing and not claiming you dont need to pay..although they might not even be using the room. My attitude is across the board or nothing,not half assed rules.

Social housing tenants who aren't on benefits are already paying for a property with that number of bedrooms. Those on benefits don't pay anything, so the tax payer is paying for an unused bedroom.

Housing_Benefit_Officer

solvent2254 wrote: »

My father in law is disabled and the first thing his council advised was to move into a one bed..obviously his wife has to look after him and on occasions might need to sleep on her own etc

My father in law isnt the type of chap who just says 'ok' lol so he fought them basically first he wrote to his local pm,then his doctor even agreed that he needs the two rooms incase his wife (his carer) needs her space to sleep.

so cut a long story short over a period of 8 weeks. He won his appeal. No bedroom tax for them.

To be honest i find it hillarious this goverment scheme..if your on benefits you got to pay but if your in social housing and not claiming you dont need to pay..although they might not even be using the room. My attitude is across the board or nothing,not half assed rules.

So basically mate,go out and fight seriously,disputing room sizes and walls etc will get nowhere,back up why you need the room,get the doctor onside and tell them its not happening

Good luck if he really has won an appeal on this!

Guidance on carers states an extra room for an overnight carer is only allowed of the carer isn't a partner. I am aware there are challenges against this on disability discrimination grounds. Even where rooms are used to store medical equipment we have to treat it as a spare bedroom.

I have had numerous appeals where couples genuinely can't sleep in the same bedroom due to the nature and complexities of the illness or disability but legislation states we can't allow the extra bedroom. Unless the Government decides to change the legislation Local Authorities hands are tied. Every case has been awarded Discretionary Housing Payments to 31st March 2014 though.

The DWP audit Local Authorities and their decisions and if they have incorrectly paid benefit due to misinterpretation, either accidentally or deliberately, of the legislation then that Local Authority loses subsidy. For every £1 Housing Benefit paid the authority gets £1 subsidy back - if they lose subsidy it costs the Local Authority money.

If a Local Authority treats a partner as a carer needing their own bedroom in contradiction of the legislation and the DWP Auditors discover it then the local authority could lose a whopping chunk of subsidy.

Morlock

Jamie_Carter wrote: »

I personally know of two families who are down sizing due to this bedroom tax. So they have now freed up a much needed 3 bedroom house.

Assuming there is a demand for that three-bedroom property, there isn't in a lot of areas without some degree of under-occupation. In which case the property will likely remain empty, as nobody wants to under-occupy it and risk bedroom tax, or it is re-let to tenants who also under-occupy as the previous tenants did.

It would be wiser to ensure demand for under-occupied properties exists before forcing tenants to move out of those properties, otherwise there is a possibility that social housing units will remain empty, unable to be fully-occupied by the demographic on the waiting list.