Bedroom Tax Loophole Closes Today!

A loophole which allowed thousands of tenants to escape the bedroom tax closes today.

The exemption applied to tenants who have been continuously claiming housing benefit from before 1 January 1996 and have lived at the same address.

An amendment to the Housing Benefit Regulations to close this loophole, introduced in February, comes into force today.

The ‘eligible rent’ referred to in bedroom tax regulations does not apply prior to 1 January 1996, when a previous set of rules existed, meaning those living in the property prior to this date should not have been affected.

The regulations coming into force today change the definition of eligible rent.

The Department for Work and Pensions has said those wrongly charged since 1 April, when the policy was introduced, should receive a refund.  It estimated around 5,000 tenants were impacted, while other housing experts have put the figure much higher.