I have a spare bedroom

You may be affected by bedroom tax if you have more bedrooms than you need. This means that your housing benefit or Universal Credit could be reduced by up to 25%.

If you are a council or housing association tenant, you can consider moving to a smaller home. Our Wise Move Team can help with:

• organising your move
• getting your gas and electricity reconnected
• decorating
• making small adaptations to your new home, such as grab rails and bath rails

If you have a spare bedroom, you could consider taking a lodger.

You could also find somebody to swap with via HomeSwapper. If you decide to do this, you must get permission to swap from the council first.

Depending on your situation, you may get higher priority on the housing register if you move to a smaller property.

Page last updated: 9 December 2022