Under occupancy

Under the new rules, if you have more bedrooms than the Government says you need, you will lose part of your housing benefit. The new rules mean you will be allocated one bedroom for:

* each adult couple
* any other person aged 16 or over
* two children of the same sex under the age of 16
* two children under the age of 10 regardless of their sex
* any other child
* a carer (who does not normally live with you) if you or your partner need overnight care

It does not matter how the spare bedroom is used, the new rules will apply even if:

* you and your partner need to sleep apart because of a medical condition
* the main residence of your children is another address, but you have a spare room for when they stay with you.

Last updated Friday, 18th December 2015

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