According to Joe Halewood, there has been a critically important decision by the Upper Tribunal about what a ‘bedroom’ is. A bedroom is a room with a bed, used for sleeping. That means that when it comes to the Bedroom Tax, it does not matter how the landlord classifies the property; what matters is how the property is used. The test is simple – does the room have a bed in it?
This is not the same principle as the one I’d argued for – I think the definition of a minimum size of ‘room’ is very clear in law – but it will probably be more use to tenants. Joe cites the Upper Tribunal reference as CH/140/2013. However, the case has not been published yet, and it will have to be publicly available before it could be taken to be authoritative.
Further note, February: The judgment is now available here. Although it’s a private sector case, the argument for its application to the bedroom tax is highly plausible.