Conservative Party chairman Grant Shapps has insisted that withdrawing benefits from social housing tenants with spare rooms, which comes into effect today, is "common sense".
Social tenants with one spare room will be deducted 14% and those with more lose a quarter - removing what the Government calls a "spare room subsidy" not available to private tenants.
The controversial move, dubbed a "bedroom tax" by opponents, is part of a package of welfare reforms that has become the focus for protests.
Ministers say the change - affecting around 660,000 claimants - will save the taxpayer £500m a year and free up unused space for people on waiting lists.
But they have been forced to make concessions to protect foster parents and armed forces families and face a legal challenge on behalf of disabled children.
Grant Shapps' Hertfordshire home Speaking to Sky News, Mr Shapps said: "It is wrong to leave people out in the cold with effectively no roof over their heads because the taxpayer is paying for rooms which aren't in use. It's just a common-sense reform which in the end will help house more people."
Mr Shapps went on to use his own four-bedroom Hertfordshire home to defend the policy, saying: "People share rooms quite commonly - my boys share a room."
Sky's political correspondent Sophy Ridge said his comments have provoked jibes and criticism from Labour MPs and others on Twitter.
"The problem is the debate over welfare has become so political charged, emotional even, that the backlash on Twitter has already begun and some Labour MPs are saying it is not appropriate for Mr Shapps, who is a millionaire, to compare themselves with people on low paid jobs for instance," she said.
Labour said freedom of information responses showed local councils had sufficient one and two bedroom properties to house only one in 20 of those families with spare rooms.
Responses from 37 authorities across Britain revealed 96,041 households faced losing benefit but there were only 3,688 smaller homes available.
Mr Shapps has defended his plans for children to share bedrooms Shadow work and pensions secretary Liam Byrne said: "These shocking new figures reveal the big lie behind this Government's cruel bedroom tax.
"They say it's not a tax but 96% of people have nowhere to move to. In the same week that millionaires get a huge tax cut, hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people will be hit by a vicious tax they can't escape.
"This wicked bedroom tax is going to rip neighbour from neighbour, force vulnerable people to food banks and loan sharks, and end up costing Britain more than it saves as tenants are forced to go homeless or move into the expensive private rented sector."
Council tax benefit is also replaced today by a new system run by local authorities but with 10% less funding.
Anti-poverty campaigners say around 2.4 million poor families face an average £138 a year rise in their bills, with nearly two million having to pay for the first time.
The 'bedroom tax' move will affect around 660,000 claimants Working-age benefits and tax credits will rise by a below-inflation 1% from the start of the tax year on April 6 - the start of a three-year cap that represents a real-terms cut.
On April 8, disability living allowance begins to be replaced by the personal independence payment, which charities say will remove support from many in real need.
And later in the month, trials begin of a £500-a-week cap on any household's benefits in four London boroughs and of the new Universal Credit system.
Mr Shapps insists the wide-ranging reforms are vital to tackle the deficit, will encourage people off benefits and into work, and help ease housing shortages.
But charities and churches say the reforms will lead to homelessness and rising demand for food banks, and that vulnerable people will be paying a "disproportionate price" under the coalition's austerity drive.
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