Responding to a parliamentary question, Lord Freud confirmed that the housing benefit regulations will be amended in March 2014 to close the bedroom tax loophole for pre-1996 Housing Benefit tenants.
The amendment will mean that all working-age social sector tenants who underoccupy their homes will be subject to the bedroom tax regardless of the length of their tenancy, unless they fall within one of the limited exceptions.
On 8 January 2014 the DWP admitted that an oversight when drafting bedroom tax legislation meant that housing benefit regulations dating from 1996 had not been correctly updated.
This means that social housing tenants -
who have lived in their property since at least the 1 January 1996; and
have been continuously entitled to housing benefit since that date
- should contact their local authority to request arrears of housing benefit not paid on the basis of the bedroom tax. Such arrears will be payable even if discretionary housing benefit has previously been paid.
