I understand that the UT has set down in CH/140/2013 (a LHA case) that a “bedroom” has a plain dictionary meaning…a room for sleeping / a room with a bed in it.

“19. The word “bedroom” is not defined in the legislation. It is an ordinary English word and should be construed as such. According to the dictionary definition in the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary a bedroom is “a room containing a bed”, whilst in the Collins Dictionary it is
“a room furnished with beds or used for sleeping”. In the Merriam Webster Dictionary it is
“a room used for sleeping””

This is a precedent setting decision which must be followed by first tier tribunals (although not – yet – reported). There are other decisions which have looked, inter alia, at this point. In particular CH/1940/2012 which said:

“The argument on behalf of the claimant … requires the word ‘bedroom’ in the amendment to the 2006 Regulations to be read as extending to any room occupied by a carer providing night time care to a recipient of housing benefit, or the partner of such a person, whether or not the room contains a bed or is used for sleeping in. Such a departure from the plain and ordinary meaning of the word ‘bedroom’, if it were ever permissible, could only be justified if it was necessary to give effect to legislation implementing a provision of EU law, or to achieve compatibility with a right conferred by the European Convention on Human Rights.”

In that case the appelant was arguing that a room which was not used as a bedroom could qualify as one for the purposes of an overnight carer; thus allowing the LHA figure to be a two bedroom rate.

Read together, I think that we have a Gertrude Stein ‘Rose’ in place. A bedroom is a bedroom is a bedroom.

That may mean that only the practical use of the room matters and not any specification of the property by the landlord – or others.