People living in social housing who have a spare bedroom will find any housing benefit claim reduced by about £40 to £80 a month next April under welfare reforms.
Those who are overcrowded, on the other hand, will be able to move to a larger property without any additional financial burden.
The change affects all social housing in the City.
The York Council has now admitted in response to a Freedom of Information request that it will not know who might be affected by the change until February. They are awaiting a “software” upgrade.
This would make it virtually impossible for tenants to relocate to smaller property by the deadline.
The government says the “under-occupancy” penalty will protect taxpayers from having to pay for a two or three-bedroom house for a single person
The change will mean that anyone in social housing – which includes both housing association and council housing – with a spare bedroom will lose 14% of their housing benefit or 25% if they have two spare rooms.
Although there are some one bedroomed properties available in York there is growing concern that some individual tenants are still not aware of the change that is in the pipeline.
Families on the housing waiting list may also have to wait longer before they can move into one of the larger properties which may be freed up by the change.