Assessing the size of housing

When considering whether a household is suffering from overcrowding, the Council will take into account both the number of bedrooms and number of bedspaces available to the household.

Kitchens and living rooms are not bedrooms for the purpose of the assessment. The intended function of the room will be considered rather than its current use, although for example in the case of a dwelling that has two separate reasonable sized living/dining rooms, it may be that one of these rooms will be considered as bedroom accommodation, as long as there remains sufficient living space for the household.

For the purposes of this assessment the Council considers that for the type of household shown below the following bedrooms will be required:

• a) a person living together with another as husband and wife (whether that other person is of the same sex or the opposite sex) would be entitled to a bedroom with two bedspaces.
• b) a person aged 16 years or more would be entitled to a bedroom with one bedspace.
• c) two persons of the same sex aged under 16 years would be entitled to a bedroom with two bedspaces.
• d) two persons of opposite sex aged less than 10 years would be entitled to a bedroom with two bedspaces.
• e) two persons of opposite sexes where one child is aged 10 or over would be entitled to a bedroom with one bedspace each.
• f) a person aged under 16 years in any case where he or she cannot be paired with another occupier of the dwelling so as to fall within (c), (d) or (e) above would be entitled to a bedroom with one bedspace.

Bedspaces refers to the number of beds that can reasonably be accommodated in each room.

When considering how many bedspaces a room is considered as containing, the Council will have regard to statutory or other guidance to determine the number of bedspaces available.

Guide to property size

The Council reserve the right to determine the size of housing accommodation according to family size and housing need in view of the shortage of social housing in the district. The number of homes that become empty each year is far less than the number of applications the Council receive. For this reason the following is a guide to the type of property the Council will consider suitable:

Single person	Bedsit or 1 bedroom
Couple	1 bedroom
Two adults who do not live as a couple, for example, brother and sister.	2 bedrooms
Family with 1 child	2 bedrooms
Family with 2 children of the same sex where the eldest is aged up to 15.	2 bedrooms
Family with 2 children of opposite sex under the age of 10.	2 bedrooms
Family with 2 children of opposite sex with one aged 10 or over.	3 bedrooms
Family with 3 children of any sex under the age of 16.	3 bedrooms
Family with 4 children of any sex under the age of 10.	3 bedrooms
Family with 4 children of the same sex under the age of 16.	3 bedrooms
Family with 4 children of different sexes under the age of 16.	3/4 bedrooms
Family with 5 children of different sexes under the age of 16.	4 bedrooms

 

Because of the limited stock of larger homes, families requiring four bedrooms or more may be able to bid on three bedroom properties however this will be assessed on a case by case basis.

Larger accommodation than specified in this guide may be considered in exceptional circumstances in accordance with current Housing Benefit regulations or any such regulations that may be introduced.

An unborn baby expected within 8 weeks is a counted as a child for the purposes of assessing the size of accommodation.

Applicants with an assessed medical need will be considered for 1 or 2 bedroom ground floor flats or bungalows, provided the properties are suitable for households with reduced mobility.

The Council may exercise flexibility where tenants occupying large properties wish to move to smaller accommodation in order to make best use of its housing stock.

 

Contact Housing

Tel: 01304 872265