The Housing Selection Scheme Consultation Paper - Northern ...

There is no distinction between larger and smaller bedrooms for housing benefit
purposes, for example, a house with one double bedroom and two single
bedrooms will be a three bedroom property.
The size criteria do not apply to:
• those over state pension credit age
• those in shared ownership schemes
• those in sheltered or supported housing who have support services provided
by a not for profit landlord. 2
Otherwise, there are no exceptions to this which means that:
• if separated parents share childcare, the child will only be taken account of in
calculating the property size for the housing benefit claim of the designated
‘main carer’ – if care is shared exactly equally the main carer will usually be
the parent that receives child benefit
• parents whose children visit but are not part of the household are not
assessed as needing an extra bedroom for housing benefit.
• foster children will not be considered when assessing whether or not a home
is under-occupied.
• couples using a spare bedroom, for example when recovering from illness will
still be considered to be under-occupying
• disabled people living in adapted or specially designed properties which have
more bedrooms than are permitted by the size criteria will have their housing
benefit reduced, unless designated as supported ‘exempt’ accommodation.
• disabled children who because of their age would be expected to share with
siblings, will not be entitled to a separate bedroom. 3
2 This is a particular type of supported accommodation defined for housing benefit purposes as
accommodation provided by a non-metropolitan county council in England, a housing association,
a registered charity or voluntary organisation, where that body or a person acting on its behalf
also provides the claimant with care, support or supervision
3 The judgment in the Court of Appeal decision in the cases of Burnip, Trengove and Gorry
concerns size criteria for Local Housing Allowance, including the need for an additional room for
children with serious disabilities where it may be inappropriate for them to share a bedroom.
It was unanimously held that the size criteria discriminated unlawfully against the three
appellants, on grounds of disability, by not including provision to meet their need for an additional
room. In light of the fact that leave to appeal to the Supreme Court has been sought the DSD has
recommended that, although a decision of the Court of Appeal in GB is highly persuasive, it is not
binding in NI and therefore should not be followed at present.
Proposals for Changes to the Housing Selection Scheme 6