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Housing benefit challenge fails Housing benefit challenge dismissed by High Court
(35 minutes later)
Disabled families have lost a court challenge to social housing benefit cuts for residents with spare bedrooms in England, Wales and Scotland.Disabled families have lost a court challenge to social housing benefit cuts for residents with spare bedrooms in England, Wales and Scotland.
Lawyers for 10 families brought a judicial review over the lower payments for people in homes deemed too large. Ten families brought a judicial review over the lower payments for people in homes deemed too large.
They argued that the change, which was introduced in April, breached their clients' human rights. But the High Court has ruled that the change, which was introduced in April, did not breach their human rights.
But the High Court ruled that the move did not unlawfully discriminate against disabled people. The government is "incredibly pleased" by the decision, the BBC understands, although the families plan to appeal.
BBC chief political correspondent Norman Smith said the decision was a "huge relief" for the government, which has announced an additional £35m in funding to ease the introduction of the changes.
Our correspondent said sources had told him that the extra funding was not prompted by the court action.
This was a "benchmark policy" for ministers, both in terms of cutting spending and changing "attitudes towards housing benefit", he added.
The families, all disabled or the parents of disabled children, had challenged the changes during a three-day hearing in May.
Their lawyers argued the benefit cut violated the Human Rights Act and Equality Act.
But a spokesman for the Department for Work and Pensions said at the time that the move would bring back fairness to the housing benefit system and pointed out there were "two million households on the social housing waiting list and over a quarter of a million tenants... living in overcrowded homes".