The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is a way of assessing Housing Benefit claims which has been used since 7 April 2008. It affects 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.
The LHA rate used in your benefit assessment is dependant on the area that the property is located in and the number of bedrooms required for your household.
Please use the Rent Service link provided to find out the number of bedrooms you are permitted for benefit purposes for your household and the rate of LHA applicable can be obtained by inputting the postcode of the dwelling.
To view LHA rates from 1 April 2008 please follow links
With effect from 1 November 2009 there have been minor changes to the boundaries set by the Rent Service. The new areas are shown on the map below.
The map above shows the boundary of St Edmundsbury Borough Council and the split between the different LHA areas.
There are three LHA areas for St Edmundsbury Borough Council:
- Central Norfolk and Norwich
- Bury St Edmunds
- Cambridge
For a more detailed view please visit: Map showing the Local Housing Allowance areas (PDF 480Kb)
