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Bedroom Entitlement

The number of bedrooms applicants will be considered for will depend upon the size and composition of their household and are aligned to the DWP social sector size criteria as introduced following the Welfare Reform Act 2012. 
 
Please be aware that we would generally only expect one 4-bedroom vacancy to arise every 1-2 years, less than ten 3-bedroom vacancies a year and most 2 bedroom properties will be flats not houses.

The table below outlines the criteria used to calculate the number of bedrooms rooms that a household requires.

Bedroom Standard Criteria

 

Number of Bedroom

Household Size

Bedsit

1

2

3

4

Single Person

X

X

 

 

 

Couple without children

 

X

 

 

 

Parent(s) with 1 child

 

 

X

 

 

Parent(s) with two children of different sexes who are both under 10 years of age

 

 

X

 

 

Parent(s) with two children of same sex under 16 years of age

 

 

X

 

 

Parents(s) with two children where one child is aged 16 years or over

 

 

 

X

 

Parent(s) with two children of different sex where the eldest is 10 years of age

 

 

 

X

 

Parent(s) with three or four children depending on the age and sex of the children:-*

Two children of same sex can share until oldest is 16.

Two children of opposite sex can care until oldest is 10.

 

 

 

X

X

Parent Parent(s) with five or more children

 

 

 

 

X

One bedroom for any two children of different sex who are both under 10 years of age

One bedroom for any two children of the same sex under 16

An additional bedroom for any remaining children or additional person aged 16 years or over to a maximum of 4 bedrooms

An additional bedroom may be allowed if the applicant has a severely disabled child who cannot share a bedroom due to their disability

An additional bedroom may be allowed if the applicant is an approved foster carer

An additional bedroom may be allowed if the applicant requires a non-resident carer who provides overnight care

An additional bedroom may be allowed if the applicant has an adult child who is away on operations in the Armed Forces

A child up to 12 months is ignored in the calculation of room deficiency, but not in the assessment of rehousing bedroom requirement

If any bedroom(s) fall below the minimum legal size requirement the Council can award points on the basis of room deficiency.

There is a very limited supply of properties larger than 4 bedrooms, therefore all households who require a larger property will be considered for properties with 4 bedrooms. Any assessment of need will be made on this basis.