Universal Credit (UC) housing costs element - Universal Credit (UC): How much will I get? I'm a social tenant

If you live in social housing, your housing element will be based on the rent you pay. If you are considered to have spare bedrooms, you will be affected by the bedroom tax. Social housing means you pay rent to a council, the Northern Ireland Housing Executive or a housing association.

You are allowed one bedroom for each category shown below:

• You (and your partner if you have one)
• Any other person over 16, as long as they aren't living with you as your tenant
• Two children under 16 of the same gender
• Two children under 10
• Any other child under 16.

Exemptions

You will be exempt from the bedroom tax if you live in a Sanctuary Scheme after experiencing domestic violence.

Extra bedrooms

You may be able to get an additional bedroom if you, your partner or your child has a disability that means they can't share a bedroom and they get a qualifying disability benefit.

The qualifying disability benefits are:

• Higher rate Attendance Allowance or Pension Age Disability Payment (Scotland)
• Middle or high rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Middle or high rate care component of Child Disability Payment
• Daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Daily living component of Adult Disability Payment
• Armed Forces Independence Payment.

You may be able to get an additional bedroom if you, your partner, or your child has a disability that means they need someone to stay overnight to provide care and they get a qualifying disability benefit.

The qualifying disability benefits are:

• Attendance Allowance or Pension Age Disability Payment (Scotland)
• Middle or high rate care component of Disability Living Allowance (DLA)
• Middle or high rate care component of Child Disability Payment
• Daily living component of Personal Independence Payment (PIP)
• Daily living component of Adult Disability Payment
• Armed Forces Independence Payment

You may be able to get an extra bedroom if you are a foster parent, have registered as a foster parent in the past 12 months or have had a child placed with you for fostering in the past 12 months.

Reductions

If your home is considered to be too big for you, the help you get with rent will be reduced by:

• 14% if you have one spare bedroom
• 25% if you have two or more spare bedrooms.

Relation to Council Housing Allocation policies

These rules apply to the number of bedrooms you are considered to be entitled to for working out benefits entitlement. They do not affect the number of bedrooms your council's housing allocations policy will consider you to need. Councils can set different rules when allocating social housing. Get in touch with your council or get housing advice if you need to know how many bedrooms your council's housing policy will consider you to need.