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Housing Benefit (Amendment) Regulations 2009

My Lords, the noble Lord is referring to the broad market rental areas, which are the areas in which the various rent levels are determined. There is a rolling review of these by the rent service. Some of them are reviewed each year. This is a proper opportunity, particularly for local authorities, to engage in the determination of those reviews and to input into the assessment that is being undertaken, which is a separate review from the two-year review. We are talking about a review of the broad thrust of the policy. The noble Lord made an earlier point about overcrowding. Under the local housing allowance, the criteria are one bedroom for every adult couple, any other adult aged 16 or over, any two children of the same sex, and any two children, regardless of sex, under the age of 10. I think those criteria are more generous than those used to determine overcrowding generally.