If you live in a Council or Housing Association home and you have one or more bedrooms than you need for benefit purposes, your housing benefit may be reduced. You won’t be affected if:
- you live in a one-bedroom flat or bedsit
- you or your partner are old enough to receive pension credits
- your spare room is used by students or members of the armed or reserve forces who are away and intend to return home.
The following are expected to share a bedroom:
- an adult couple
- two children under 16 of the same sex
- two children under 10 (regardless of sex)
The rules will apply even if:
- you and your partner need to sleep apart because of a medical condition
- the main residence of your children is another address, but you have a spare room for when they stay with you
The following can have their own bedroom:
- a single adult (16 or over)
- a child that would normally share but shared bedrooms are already taken - for example, you have three children and two already share
- children who cannot share because of a disability or medical condition
- a non-resident overnight carer for you or your partner (but only if they must stay overnight)
One spare bedroom is allowed for:
- an approved foster carer who is between placements but only up to 52 weeks from the end of the last placement
- a newly approved foster carer up to 52 weeks from the date of approval if no child is placed with them during that time