Housing benefit criteria found to discriminate against disabled children

The Court of Appeal came to the unanimous decision that criteria used to determine how much housing benefit can be paid to a family renting in the private sector is prejudicial to disabled children.

The judgment, which relates to the case of a family with two disabled children versus Wiltshire Council and the Department for Work and Pension’s, found that failure to take account of the children’s additional needs breached British human rights law.

This is because the existing rules do not allow for the costs of an additional room, where a disabled child’s condition means they are unable to share a bedroom with a sibling.

Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, which represented the family in the case, said the ruling is "a tremendous victory" for the rights of disabled people and their children.

“In this case it was clearly not possible for two children, one with Spina Bifida and another with Down Syndrome, to share a bedroom with such different demands and needs," she said.