The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is a way of assessing Housing Benefit claims which has been in place since 7 April 2008. It will affect new private tenant claims; private tenant claims that have a break in entitlement of a week or more; and people currently claiming Housing Benefit who move to a new private tenancy.
The scheme has been designed to be easier to understand because it is based on the number of people in the household and the Rent Service will set the LHA for each size of household at the start of each month. This means that Housing Benefit for the same sized households within the same area will be based on the same LHA figure.
How Housing Benefit will be worked out using the LHA figure
This will depend on:
- who lives with you
- which area you want to live in
- how much money you have coming into your household
- what savings you have
There are no changes in the Housing Benefit rules; this is still based on a persons' financial circumstances and proof of a valid tenancy agreement.
How the LHA will be worked out
This is a flat rate housing allowance using the number of people living with you in order to work out how many bedrooms you will need.
One bedroom is allowed for:
- every adult couple
- any other adult in the household aged 16 and over
- any two children regardless of sex who are under age 10
- any two children of the same sex who are under age 16
- any other child
The other rooms in the property are ignored for this purpose.
You can use the LHA bedroom calculator to find out which LHA rate you qualify for.
How the area you live will affect the LHA
The property will be within a Broad Market Rental Area set by the Independent Rent Service. The LHA used to assess a benefit claim will be based on the number of bedrooms for the size of the household and will be the same amount for all comparable households within that area.
Using this figure, people looking for property within an area will be aware of the level of LHA, which will be used to assess Housing Benefit, allowing more choice and clearer information when looking for property.
If the actual rent for the chosen tenancy is less than the LHA for the size of property the tenant needs, the tenant can keep the extra money, up to a maximum of £15 per week. However, if the actual rent charged is greater than the LHA, the tenant will have to pay the difference to the landlord. The LHA is the maximum which can be paid in Housing Benefit.
Payment of LHA
In most cases payment will be made to the tenant, directly into a bank account and it will be the tenant's responsibility to pay the rent to the landlord.
For people who may struggle with this responsibility and need some help in managing this, we are creating links with money advice services, the local banks and Suffolk Credit Union to help with this.
Safeguard Policy
Some people may have difficulty in getting the LHA and paying their rent. Payment can be made directly to the landlord if:
- we consider that a tenant is unlikely to pay the rent
- we think that a tenant may be 'vulnerable' and is unlikely to pay
- the tenant falls more than eight weeks into arrears
Any decision to pay the landlord will be reviewed at intervals and the decision may then change. In order to clarify how the decision to pay the landlord will be made, a Safeguard Policy (PDF 237Kb), which sets out the decision making process has been developed along with other Suffolk Local Authorities. This policy sets out the criteria which will be used in each decision and the proofs required to support the request to pay the landlord.
Single people under 25 years of age
A single person aged under 25 years of age, living alone, who does not have a dependant or non-dependant living with him/her, will be entitled to the LHA rate for a room in shared accommodation. Although this will be based on a more generous definition than the current single room rent, which limits Housing Benefit entitlement to the rate for a room in shared accommodation, the new rate will be based on properties where the tenant has the exclusive use of only one bedroom and the tenancy provides for the tenant to share the house of one or more of kitchen, bathroom, toilet, room suitable for living in.
A severely disabled person under 25 years and care leavers under 22 years will be entitled to the LHA rate for a one bedroomed, self-contained property, provided they rent a property of at least that size. However, if they choose to live in a property where at least some facilities are shared, they will only be entitled to the shared LHA.
