The Bedroom Tax – City Council helps 1,131 tenants

With less then a week to go before the introduction of the unpopular “Bedroom Tax,” St Ann’s Councillor, Dave Liversidge, Portfolio Holder for Adults, Housing and the Community Sector, and lan Curryer Corporate Director of Housing, have both made two important executive decisions:

(1) High rise properties will all be considered to be one-bedroom in line with existing allocations policies; and (2) In respect of Council dwellings, a room measuring less than 50 square feet (4.6m2) will not be classed as a “bedroom”.

Above - High Rise flats Hartley Road, Radford --- Below Right Councillor David Liversidge

The decision means that from today 1,131 tenants will be exempt from paying the Bedroom Tax from 1st April, depriving the Conservative government of over £15,000 per week (£831,000 a year).

The Council lets 362 older peoples' flats and 1,518 general needs flats in high rise tower blocks. Of these general needs flats 499 were built as 1 bed flats and 1,019 were originally built as 2 bed flats. The Council's allocation policy has, however, precluded families with dependent children from occupying high-rise flats for the past decade. They are let to single people and couples irrespective of the bedroom count.

The City Council says “It is proposed to more accurately classify all high rise second bedrooms as a study to ensure future letting viability. The rent levels for these properties have been reviewed in accordance with the rent-setting powers contained in section 24 of the Housing Act 1985 as amended and the change of designation will have no impact on the level of rent to be charged. There will be no impact on the lettings policy.”

There are a number of properties where the size of the smallest bedroom is less than 50 square feet (4.6m2). The Council is adopting this standard of 50 square feet (4.6m2) as the minimum size for a bedroom with effect from 1 April 2013. The Council has used the 1985 Housing Act space standard to inform its decision that 50 sq. foot is an appropriate minimum size. It is not considered reasonable to include rooms below this size when determining the number of bedrooms in these properties.

From analysis so far, the council says 112 properties have been identified where the smallest bedroom is below 50sq ft. These will no longer be counted as bedrooms. Tenants will be invited to apply for a determination of their smallest bedroom based on the standard adopted if they believe their home is also affected by this change. The rent levels for these properties have been reviewed in accordance with the rent-setting powers contained in section 24 of the Housing Act 1985 as amended and the change of designation will have no impact on the level of rent to be charged. There will be no impact on the lettings policy. This approach will, however, slightly increase the supply of 2 bedroom properties which are in short supply.

By Richard Pearson