Summary: The Ombudsman will not investigate this complaint about a reduction to the complainant’s housing benefit for the under-occupancy charge. This is because the complainant could have appealed to the tribunal.

The complaint

1. The complainant, whom I refer to as Mr X, says the Council should not impose the under-occupancy charge to his housing benefit because one his bedrooms is too small to count as a bedroom. He wants the Council to end the reduction.

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The Ombudsman’s role and powers

2. The Local Government Act 1974 sets out our powers but also imposes restrictions on what we can investigate.
3. The law says we cannot normally investigate a complaint when someone can appeal to a tribunal. However, we may decide to investigate if we consider it would be unreasonable to expect the person to appeal. (Local Government Act 1974, section 26(6)(a), as amended)
4. The Social Entitlement Chamber (also known as the Social Security Appeal Tribunal) is a tribunal that considers housing benefit appeals. (The Social Entitlement Chamber of the First Tier Tribunal)

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How I considered this complaint

5. I read the complaint and considered a housing benefit decision the Council sent to Mr X in March 2020. I invited Mr X to comment on a draft of this decision.

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What I found

Housing benefit – under-occupancy charge (bedroom tax)

6. The Government changed the housing benefit rules from April 2013. The rules say a council must reduce someone’s housing benefit if they live in a property which is too large for their needs.
7. If someone disagrees with a council’s decision to impose a reduction for the bedroom tax they can appeal to the tribunal. The law says people should appeal within one month of the date of the housing benefit decision they disagree with. The tribunal can accept a late appeal up to 13 months after the decision. The tribunal can decide not to accept a late appeal.

What happened

8. The Council sent Mr X a housing benefit decision in March 2020. The decision said his housing benefit had been reduced by £12.56 a week due to the under-occupancy charge. The decision letter said Mr X had one month to appeal to the tribunal if he disagreed with the decision.
9. Mr X says that one of the bedrooms is too small to be treated as a bedroom so the Council should remove the bedroom tax.

Assessment

10. I will not start an investigation because Mr X could have appealed to the tribunal. It is reasonable to expect Mr X to appeal because the tribunal is the appropriate body to consider benefit disputes including a dispute about whether a council should apply the bedroom tax. In addition, the tribunal is free to use and the Council told Mr X about his appeal rights.
11. Mr X could ask for a late appeal. He would need to explain why his appeal is late. It would be for the tribunal to decide whether to accept a late appeal.

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Final decision

12. I will not start an investigation because Mr X could have appealed to the tribunal.

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Investigator's decision on behalf of the Ombudsman