University And Bedroom Tax

[ayabrea38]

When my beloved son goes to uni in 2015,do I then have to pay bedroom tax for his bedroom or not?I mean chances are he will come and visit his poor old Mum and Dad,and,of course there is after he has left uni,I mean I am sure he will not be able to jump into a job and afford housing straight away so he will need a bedroom!
At the moment I am claiming Housing Benefit and DLA etc,I know they have changed the name of benefits so I am not too sure exactly what I am claiming,even if that makes a difference.
Also,if I did have to pay the dreaded tax,about how much would that be for a room in a 3 bed semi?

Thanks for any answers/advice etc
Aya

[albaqwerty]

aya (lovely to see you, hope all is getting better with each of you)

Someone posted a link to a government website some time ago about off-spring going to uni and thereby leaving a 'spare' bedroom behind.
Some councils don't seem to class it as a spare room (from my poor memory).
One extra room which is classed as 'spare' can be £11 a week.

[jim360]

According to Shelter, as long as your son will return during holidays then it will count as his room still and you will not be affected. The government websites I've checked are (perhaps inevitably) not so clear on this. But I think you will be OK.

[jim360]

I found this link, at last:

http://www.hyndburnhomes.co.uk/files/2012/09/FACT-SHEET-11-Students-and-the-Bedroom-Tax.pdf

To the best of my knowledge the picture presented in this has not changed. Universal Credit hasn't been rolled out properly yet, so the changes in the rules are unlikely to come into force to affect things.

[Graham-W]

From: http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/housing/housing_benefit/welfare_reform_changes/frequently_asked_questions.aspx#Q10
It's from Peterborough council but the rules are the same all over England.
You'll probably loose 14% of your housing benefits, but check paragraph 6. 1 if your house has been adapted for your disability.


10. My child is at university. Can I keep their room free for when they come back for the holidays?
Housing Benefit can only be paid for an additional room during the summer holiday period. Please let us know as soon as they return and your entitlement can be reassessed. Once they return to university then Housing Benefit for the additional room will be lost.

[ayabrea38]

albaqwerty!!Hi,nice to see you too!
As you can see we are still going strong,my ankle has come out of the cast and is now in an 'air boot' but is as week as a newborns!
Thank you both for answering,nice to see I don't have to have my son's smelly feet on the sofa in the holidays!

[ayabrea38]

Oh and then I see the other answers.....
I think the best thing is to look into it more,thank you Graham for that link,as my house is adapted slightly,it is of interest.
14% is a lot.
The added complication is my daughter might be moving out after a 'for ever and ever I hate you all' type tantrum,so if we had to move because of that,I would not no whether to look for 2 or 1 bedroom house.
To think I thought it would get easier as they got older!

[jim360]

You're welcome. It seems that there is some conflicting answers you are getting, though... I'm not really sure who is right. On the government's own website, from 2013:

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/housing-benefit-reform-removal-of-the-spare-room-subsidy-fact-sheet

"Parents of students
If a student’s main residency is their parents’ home, then their bedroom will not be considered as spare."

So the trick is to establish that the parents' home is the student's main residency. Apparently, no-one's bothered to define Main residency in actual law, but the main point is that "A person does not necessarily have to be physically present at an address all the time for it to be their main residence." For students, it can be enough to show that:

1. You would be living with your parents if you could, but University work demands that you live away for most of the year;
2. You do intend to return within a year, such as for holidays.

Probably other things as well. How you go about this might vary depending on where you live, since Housing benefit ultimately is administered by the Local Council and some may be more "aggressive" than others about this sort of thing, though that is really speculation on my part. The main point is that if the Council tries to reduce your benefit you will have a good case to appeal against such a decision, so long as your son does indeed return home.

On the other hand, this may well change when/ if Universal Credit is brought in... to answer questions about that it would help to have more information about your personal circumstances (were you live, etc.).

[albaqwerty]

aya, how old is the daughter? (just out of curiosity?)

the remaining son and daughter in their rooms would not mean that you had to pay a bedroom tax.

ps, if you're in a council house, don't alert them to the daughter moving out until she really has done so and has her own place. It's not fraud, it's just family life, been, there, done that.

[jennyjoan]

this bedroom tax makes me sick for people - when, as we have spoken before - they handing out £500 a week for Romanian - not to mention paying for their births deaths etc. Grrrr and their benefits too.

[VHG]

There is no such thing as a "bedroom tax".