Eighteen social landlords in the west midlands have formed a consortium to help tenants avoid the bedroom tax. Seven local authorities and 11 housing associations have agreed to pool at least 150,000 homes to allow tenants easy access to properties across the region.

The West Midlands Making Best Use of Stock partnership hopes this will enable people to find a house with the exact number of bedrooms they need to avoid penalties for under-occupancy. The consortium hopes this will result in fewer tenants falling into arrears due to a shortfall in their benefit. Each organisation will keep its existing lettings policy.

The members of the partnership are: Birmingham, Sandwell, Coventry, Walsall, Solihull, Wolverhampton and Dudley councils; and WM Housing Group, Wolverhampton Homes, Sandwell Homes, Solihull Community Housing, Midland Heart, Bromford Housing Group, Walsall Housing Group, Orbit, Sanctuary, Viridian and Accord.

It follows a similar scheme set up in March involving 20 housing associations across Merseyside.