Housing Benefit — Penalty for Excess Bedrooms — Removal of Unintended Exemption — 26 Feb 2014 at 15:16

The majority of MPs voted to remove an exemption from housing benefit penalties due to being deemed to have excess bedrooms which applied to those who've continuously received the benefit in the same property since before 1 January 1996.

When the law on the housing benefit penalties for those with excess bedrooms^[1] came in the intent was not, according to the explanatory memorandum to the regulations, for the exemption to exist^[2]. The exemption existed as a result of transitional protections introduced when previous changes to housing benefit took place in 1996.

The text of the rejected motion was

• That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty, praying that the Housing Benefit (Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I., 2014, No. 212), dated 4 February 2014, a copy of which was laid before this House on 5 February, be annulled.

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• [1] Regulation 5 of The Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2012 which introduces section B13 to the Housing Benefit Regulations which provides for the penalty for those deemed to have excess bedrooms
• [2] Explanatory memorandum to the Housing Benefit (Transitional Provisions) (Amendment) Regulations 2014 (S.I., 2014, No. 212)

Debate in Parliament | Source |