Bedrooms and Housing Benefit

The amount of bedrooms you have in your house can affect how much Housing Benefit you receive. If you have spare bedrooms, you may have a reduction in the amount of Housing Benefit you are entitled to. This is officially called 'spare room subsidy'.

These rules only apply if you live in social housing (your landlord is a registered social landlord, also known as a housing association) and you are of working age. It does not apply if you, or your partner, have reached pensionable age where you could receive state pension credit.

Spare bedroom rules

Central government set out the rules on what counts as a spare bedroom. These rules say the following people are expected to share a bedroom:

  • An adult couple
  • Two children under the age of 16 of the same gender
  • Two children under the age of 10 of either gender

These people can have a room of their own:

  • A single young person or adult (age 16 or over)
  • A child who would normally have to share, but the shared bedrooms are already occupied fully - for example a third child but two children already share one bedroom
  • A child who cannot share because of a disability or medical condition (medical evidence is required to confirm this)
  • A foster child of any age (but only one room is allowed for entitlement, even if there is more than one foster child)

A room does not count as being a spare room if it is:

  • Used by a carer who stays overnight to care for you, your partner or a joint tenant or their partner and is not actually living with you (confirmation of the carer's main address is required)
  • For a student studying away from home, or a member of the armed or reserve forces away on operations, if they intend to return home
  • Ready for a foster child of an approved foster carer who does not have a child placed with them at the time - as long as it is within 52 weeks of their last placement, or they are newly approved

Where a room does not count as a spare room under any of the above circumstances, we will need to see the following evidence:

  • Carers - We will need proof of who your non-resident carer is and their address
  • Students or members of the armed forces - We will need proof of your address being their main address and that they intend to return to your property after their course finishes or when they return from operations
  • Foster children - We will need proof that you are a foster carer

Reductions

The reduction is one of the following:

  • 14% of the rent amount we use in our calculations for one spare bedroom
  • 25% of the rent amount we use in our calculations for two or more spare bedrooms

Does your house have any spare bedrooms?

The government has an online bedroom calculator so you can find out if your house has any spare bedrooms.

Are there any exceptions?

These rules only apply to working age households.

Your Housing Benefit will not be reduced for having a spare bedroom if you're of the age where you could get state pension credit. That age is increasing in stages from 60 to 66.

Use the government's state pension calculator to see if you qualify. Look at the date you may be entitled to pension credit, not the date you reach state pension age.

Other exceptions

The rules do not apply if:

  • Your home is part of a shared ownership scheme
  • We have placed you in temporary accommodation for homeless people
  • You live in certain types of supported or sheltered accommodation