Disabled tenants win judicial review over ‘bedroom tax’ discrimination

An appeal judge has ruled that ten test cases should be heard, as they raise issues of public importance.

The cases are said to illustrate the serious impact of the regulations on disabled people up and down the country in social housing.

The appeal is against a High Court decision in July upholding the legality of new housing benefit regulations critics say are unjustified and unlawfully discriminate against the weak and vulnerable in society.

The regulations, introduced on April 1, led to reductions in benefit payments to tenants assessed to be under-occupying their accommodation.

Under new “size criteria”, tenants with one spare bedroom have had payments reduced by 14 per cent and those deemed to have two or more spare, were cut by 25 per cent.

The United Nations has insisted its special rapporteur did not break any rules on her controversial visit to the UK to study the “bedroom tax” programme.

Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps had written to UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon criticising Raquel Rolnik’s interventions on the policy – which the Government prefers to describe as “ending the spare room subsidy”.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) rejects the “bedroom tax” tag and says the reality is that ‘’a spare room subsidy’’ has been removed from social sector tenants.

It says local councils are being given discretionary housing payment funding so that they can help vulnerable residents with all the welfare housing reforms, including disabled people affected by the removal of the spare-room subsidy.

Lawyers for the DWP nevertheless contend that the reduction of rising housing benefit expenditure is a legitimate and “integral aspect” of the Government’s deficit reduction programme, and that the change in regulations is expected to produce savings of £500m a year.

However Ugo Hayter, a lawyer from legal firm Leigh Day, who is representing two cases of adults with disabilities said: “We are extremely pleased to be able to take our fight to the Court of Appeal. We remain confident that this unfair – and we believe unlawful – bedroom tax will be repealed.”

Campaigners also say the new housing legislation has had a devastating effect on many people across the country, and charities, social landlords and advice agencies have spoken out about the plight of people with disabilities who have been affected by the measure.