Lawyers expect courts to be inundated with ‘thousands’ of legal cases following the introduction of the government’s ‘bedroom tax’ next month.
They predict the new regulations will prompt a rise in appeals to the Social Security and Child Support Tribunal, as well as an ‘inevitable’ increase in county court possession proceedings.They spoke out in the wake of a separate legal challenge launched on 1 March against the bedroom tax regulations, with 10 judicial review claims being brought against secretary of state for Work and Pensions, Iain Duncan Smith. Five of these relate to disabled children, their siblings and parents.
The under-occupation penalty - popularly known as the ‘bedroom tax’ - comes into effect on April 1. Under the policy, social tenants of working age on housing benefit will have their payments cut if they have one or more spare bedrooms. Children under the age of 10 are expected to share a room, while those under the age of 16 are expected to share if they are the same gender.
From April, people can appeal individual cases to the relevant local authority in the first instance, so it has an opportunity to review its decision, with disputes ending up in the SSCS Tribunal.
Anne McMurdie, a lawyer acting for three adult judicial review claimants, warns there may be ‘thousands’ of appeals over individual cases.
She said: ‘There must be a real risk that the SSCS Tribunal is inundated by appeals, and appeals that don’t have the benefit of legal advice.’
The introduction of the ‘bedroom tax’ coincides with the withdrawal of legal aid for first-tier tribunal welfare benefits cases. Lawyers claim this will lead to less effective handling of issues and a slower process, while also leaving some people unable to bring cases altogether.
Giles Peaker, a housing solicitor at Anthony Gold, said courts are ‘in for a rocky time’.
He added that for certain groups, particularly disabled children, a local authority has to assess the facts in deciding cases and this would ‘most certainly’ lead to lower tier tribunal cases.
He also expects ‘thousands of cases down the line’ in county courts as it is ‘inevitable’ there will be arrears caused by the bedroom tax and, ‘inevitably’ there will be an increase in possession cases.
According to the government’s impact assessment, 660,000 households will be affected by the ‘tax’.
A spokeswoman for Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service said it would not comment on speculation. She said of its current performance that it had ‘responded strongly to support the government’s reform of welfare’ and the SSCS Tribunal had ‘grown rapidly’ since 2008/09.
The SSCS Tribunal disposed of 433,600 appeals in 2011/12, a 14 per cent increase on 380,200 in 2010/11.
In numbers
- 14 per cent the reduction in housing benefit when under-occupying by one bedroom
- 25 per cent the reduction in housing benefit when under-occupying by two or more bedrooms
- 660,000 housing benefit claimants in social sector government estimates will be affected (390,000 local authority tenants and 270,000 housing association tenants)
- 420,000 estimated number of claimants who are disabled
- 10 judicial review claims
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