Legal challenge over benefit reform dubbed 'bedroom tax' by Labour The regulations, introduced on April 1, led to reductions in benefit payments to tenants assessed to be under-occupying their accommodation. Ministers say the "under occupancy penalty" is intended to ensure that the best use is made of social housing and reduce the housing benefit bill, currently more than £20 billion a year. The Department for Work and Pensions estimates that the change will save taxpayers £480 million a year and affect around 600,000 people. The average loss for a single empty bedroom will be £14 per week. It is also intended to encourage people to move into smaller properties in order to free up accommodation for families. Under new "size criteria," tenants with one spare bedroom have had a payment reduction of 14 per cent and those deemed to have two or more spare, a reduction of 25 per cent. Human rights lawyers say that, unless the families move from their homes into smaller properties, they face building up rent arrears and being forced out anyway. The Department for Work and Pensions has rejected the "bedroom tax" tag and says the reality is that "a spare room subsidy" has been removed from social sector tenants. It says local councils are being given discretionary housing payment funding so that they can help vulnerable residents with all the welfare housing reforms, including disabled people affected by the removal of the spare-room subsidy. Ugo Hayter, a lawyer from legal firm Leigh Day, who is representing two cases of adults with disabilities said: "We are extremely pleased to be able to take our fight to the Court of Appeal. We remain confident that this unfair - and we believe unlawful - bedroom tax will be repealed.