How many bedrooms?

Brockley Tenants' Co-operative allocates housing to members in line with the Government regulations on occupancy which are used to determine entitlement to housing benefit.

This is done in every case, even if benefits are not being claimed.  This is so that if circumstances later changed and the member needed to claim benefits, they would not be subject to an under-occupancy penalty ('bedroom tax') and would still be able to pay their rent.

If separated parents share childcare, the children will only be taken into account in calculating the property size for the main carer.

Government regulations

The following are expected to share:

• an adult couple
• 2 children under 16 of the same sex
• 2 children under 10 (regardless of sex)

The following can have their own bedroom:

• a single adult aged (16 or over)
• a child that would normally share but shared bedrooms are already taken, eg you have 3 children and 2 already share
• children who cannot share because of a disability or medical condition
• a non-resident overnight carer for you or your partner (but only if they must stay overnight)

One spare bedroom is allowed for:

• an approved foster carer who is between placements but only for up to 52 weeks from the end of the last placement
• a newly approved foster carer for up to 52 weeks from the date of approval if no child is placed with them during that time

Rooms used by students and members of the armed or reserve forces will not be counted as ‘spare’ if they are away and intend to return home.