LHA two bedroom rate for disability - what will the DWP consider as an extra bedroom?

bogviolet

Hi there!

I've been approved for the two bedroom rate of LHA as I'm unable to share a bedroom with my partner due to my disability. Our current rent is covered in full by the LHA one bedroom rate but we are looking to move to a more accessible house - we would be renting privately and living with 2 other friends who would also have their own separate bedrooms - 4 bedrooms all in all. The house we're looking at renting is technically a 3 bedroom house (and would say 3 bedroom on the tenancy agreement) but it does have a nice basement room (not counted as a bedroom by the estate agent because it doesn't have windows) or a living room that we could use as a bedroom for my partner.

The rent is higher and we would only be able to afford it if we were getting the two bedroom rate so my concern/question is this: would the fact that the tenancy agreement says 3 bedroom (not 4) mean that we would not be able to claim the two bedroom rate? Would this pose any problems?

I hope I have explained my situation properly, please let me know if more details would be useful, thank you for reading! :)