Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is the new way of working out the maximum Housing Benefit you could get and gives tenants more choice in where they live.
This is because:
- With Local Housing Allowance you will get the same amount of benefit as people in the same circumstances as you. With Housing Benefit, people living in smaller or less attractive properties usually got less benefit than people living in larger or more attractive properties.
- You can decide how much of your benefit you want to spend on renting a property. For example, you can choose to pay more to rent a large property. Or you can rent a smaller property and use the rest of your benefit for other things.
- You can find out how much Local Housing Allowance you can get before you rent a property. With Housing Benefit you might have had to wait for several weeks to find out how much you would get.
- If you get Local Housing Allowance you will get your benefit paid to you. It is up to you to pay the rent to your landlord in the same way as other tenants who do not get benefit.
- If you are looking for a job you will know how much benefit you are likely to get when you find one
- You will find out about your Local Housing Allowance quicker than Housing Benefit.
If you don’t pay your rent you may be evicted from the property.
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is paid directly to the tenant, not to the landlord. It is up to the tenant to make sure that the rent is paid to the landlord. This means that:
-
If your rent is higher than the LHA, you will have to make up the difference.
-
If your rent is lower than the LHA, you will pay your rent and keep the difference up to a maximum of £15.
In some circumstances we can pay the landlord with the tenant's agreement. The section below tells you about this.
We will only pay the landlord the contractual rent, if your LHA is higher then we will pay you the difference up to a maximum of £15 and you need to make arrangements to receive this.
Direct Payments to Claimants
The easiest way to receive LHA is straight into a bank account. This means that benefit is received on the day that it is due and a standing order or direct debit can be set up to pay the rent.
To arrange for LHA to be paid into a bank account, please contact the Benefits Service or complete the Change of Payments Form
LHA cannot be paid into a Post Office Card Account like some other benefits. You will need to have an account with a high street bank.
The Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) provide a Money Advice Service and they can help tenants by giving advice on:
-
Opening bank accounts (see guide at the bottom of this page)
-
Setting up standing orders
-
Making changes to household budgeting
-
Rescheduling debts
Direct Payments to Landlords
If someone feels they cannot cope with the process of paying rent to the landlord each month, it may be possible for us to pay LHA directly to the landlord.
A Direct Payments Application Form needs to be completed giving us reasons why you think your LHA should be paid to your landlord. We may need to ask for further evidence.
The council's Safeguards for Tenants and Landlords Policy tells you how we make decisions to pay private landlords.
Eight Weeks Arrears
If we are told that you owe more than eight weeks rent, we will look at paying your LHA directly to the landlord until the amount owing has been cleared. To make this decision we will look at the evidence provided.
There are many reasons why someone cannot manage their money and paying the landlord may only be a short term arrangement. There are a number of local advice agencies who may be able to offer support.
If you are worried about managing your money, ask us if we can help. In special cases we may be able to pay your rent to your landlord.
Change of circumstances
If you move to a new address or other circumstances change, you should tell us straight away. You may need to make a fresh claim for Local Housing Allowance.
See the Rent Calculator to see how you may be affected.
Working out what you might get
The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) for private tenants is worked out according to:
The number of people who are included in your claim for LHA will be used to work out how many bedrooms you are entitled to. This number will correspond to the category of LHA you will get. We do not count other rooms such as a kitchen or bathroom.
Size criteria
You are allowed one bedroom for:
-
Every adult couple (same or opposite sex)
-
Any other adult aged 16 or over
-
Any two children of the same sex aged under 16
-
Any two children under age 10
-
Any other child
Local Housing Allowance monthly rates
The table below shows the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates applicable to private tenants making a claim this month. These are the maximum amounts for each category. The actual amount you will be entitled to will depend on your income and savings
Every year the council has to recalculate private tenants' LHA so that it stays in line with market rents. When you have been on LHA for a year, your benefit is calculated with the new rate.
If you are a landlord you can submit market evidence to help set the rates.
|
Category
|
Type of property
|
Weekly Amount from
1 FEB 2012
|
Monthly Amount from
1 FEB 2012
|
|
A
|
1 room with shared living room and:
a) shared kitchen, toilet and bathroom or
b) exclusive use of kitchen/kitchen facilities or
c) exclusive use of bathroom and toilet with shared kitchen
|
£57.00
|
£247.00
|
|
B
|
1 bedroom property
|
£86.54
|
£375.01
|
|
C
|
2 bedroom property
|
£103.85
|
£450.02
|
|
D
|
3 bedroom property
|
£115.38
|
£499.98
|
|
E
|
4 bedroom property
|
£150.00
|
£650.00
|
Category A is applied for those who do not live in self contained accommodation.
Category A also applies to all claimants under 35.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What if the rent is more than the LHA, can the rent still be increased?
The landlord can charge whatever rent they feel appropriate, however Housing benefit will still be based on the LHA regardless of what is being charged.
2. What is a Pathfinder?
The Pathfinder local authorities volunteered to test Local Housing Allowance. 9 have been working under the new rules since 2003 and a further 9 since 2005. The findings of these councils has been used to set the final legislation for the rest of the country.
3. Does the whole country come under Local Housing Allowance rules from April?
Yes
4. Does the rent Service hold records of everyone’s rent?
The Rent Service cannot use the information from the Council’s database to establish the LHA rates. They have to collect information independently.
5. Do landlords have to give their rent figures to the Rent Service?
No, but the more information they have the more realistic the LHA rates will be.
6. If there is a rent increase due on a property in April, can the landlord base the rent on the LHA figure?
The landlord can charge any rent he/she feels is appropriate. If that amount equals the LHA rate for that size of property then that is fine.
7. How often will the tenant be paid?
4 weekly in arrears or calendar monthly in arrears.
8. What is a Credit Union?
A credit union is a non profit making organisation which comes under the same rules as banks. It allows people who may have difficulty opening a bank account to access some of the same services and also can give cheap loans. See above for more information.
9. Can the tenant pay their rent by standing order from a credit union account?
Yes.
10. Where the council can pay the landlord if the tenant is in 8 weeks arrears, is that 8 weeks of the LHA rate?
No it is 8 full weeks rent arrears which could have accrued at anytime.
11. How will you monitor evictions caused due to paying the tenant instead of the landlord?
From information from landlords and the Homeless Team.
12. Why do you have to wait until someone is 8 weeks in arrears before you can swap payments to the landlord?
Because that is the time limit set in legislation. However if a tenant doesn’t make the first payment to you at the due date contact us with evidence and we may be able to pay you earlier.
13. Will you let the landlord know it a tenant is a bad payer and will you share this information with other councils?
No, we cannot give a landlord this sort of information. We are hoping to make arrangements with the surrounding councils to share this sort of information.
For further information relating to Local Housing Allowance please see our leaflets
Important Changes from April 2011
