What is the government's controversial 'bedroom tax'?

What is the so-called 'bedroom tax'?

• It is a change in housing benefit rules, introduced in April 2013. Since that time, those living in social housing who are deemed to have a spare bedroom are asked to downsize or face a cut in benefits.

• Ministers want to cut housing benefit by 14% for those deemed to have one extra bedroom and 25% for claimants with two or more spare bedrooms.

How many people will this affect?

• The 'bedroom tax' will affect around 660,000 social housing tenants across the country.

Who will be affected?

• Separated parents who share the care of their children and who may have been allocated an extra bedroom to reflect this. Benefit rules mean that there must be a designated ‘main carer’ for children (who receives the extra benefit).

• Couples who use their spare bedroom when recovering from an illness or operation.

• Foster carers because foster children are not counted as part of the household for benefit purposes.

• Parents whose children visit but are not part of the household.

• Families with disabled children.

• Disabled people including people living in adapted or specially designed properties.

Source: The National Housing Federation

Why do the government want to cut housing benefit?

• The government says the proposals will save money and help deal with a housing shortage by encouraging people to move out of homes that are too big for them.