Council imposes 'bedroom tax' on new home extensions

A local council has come in for some fierce criticism after charging home owners a £1,000 ‘bedroom tax’ on extensions. According to the BBC, Purbeck District Council in Dorset is putting the fee into practice as part of section 106 agreement rules.

The authority is thought to be the first in the country to apply the rules in this way in a move which has angered some people looking to make simple room extensions to their home. An unnamed resident told the BBC he was charged £2,000 for a one up, one down extension, as the council rule both rooms could be classed as bedrooms. The anonymous homeowner said:

“We were a little bit shocked to find our extension would cost us an extra £2,000 on top of planning and before starting the building.

“They said it’s £1,000 per habitable room, but we only wanted an extension to the lounge downstairs.

“Our architect managed to negotiate it down to £1,000 but we didn’t get planning because we had not paid the application fee.”

The issue first came to light following an investigation by Radio 4 for the programme You and Yours. Section 106 agreements allow councils to ask house builders to contribute cash to local areas when starting a new project, but are normally reserved for large-scale property developers.

Purbeck District Council defended the move. The authority’s development control manager Alan Davies told the BBC:

“We came up with a policy that would allow us to pay for highway improvements. We are looking long-term.”

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