DWP confirms Bedroom tax ‘loophole

Community Housing Cymru Group has welcomed confirmation from the Department of Work and Pensions that a legal ‘loophole’ means long-term tenants are exempt from paying bedroom tax.

Tenants can claim exemption from bedroom tax if they have lived in the same property since January 1, 1996, or before and have been in continuous receipt of housing benefit. The exemption also applied to tenants who have inherited a tenancy on the same basis. In summary, if a claimant has been in continuous receipt of Housing Benefit since 1996 living in the same property then they should appeal and local authority should backdate HB to April 2013.

The template letter for appeal and the HB bulletin are available on the Your Benefits Are Changing facebook page.
http://on.fb.me/1aaYA8A

The legal details are here:
http://bit.ly/1aaXZUs