Changes to housing and council tax benefit from April 2011
This page is about the changes to housing and council tax benefit from April 2011 onwards.
Local Housing Allowance – removal of excess payment
Currently some people receive a payment in addition to the standard Local Housing Allowance (LHA) if they are renting accommodation below the applicable LHA rate. This is referred to as the excess payment and can be paid up to a maximum of £15 per week.
Around one third of the borough’s Local Housing Allowance recipients receive the excess, but this will stop from April 2011 when the claim reaches it’s anniversary date – this is normally the anniversary date of the day the claim was made. Therefore there will be a period of one year from April 2011 to March 2012 when the excess payments will stop.
Local Housing Allowance – reduction of rates
At present, the Valuation Office Agency work out the Local Housing Allowance rates by taking the average rent in the area for each property type. This is known as the 50th percentile. This will change from April when the LHA rate will be set at the 30th percentile rather than the 50th percentile, meaning that 3 out of 10 properties will be affordable for people claiming Housing Benefit.
This change will affect the following people immediately from April
• anyone who makes a new claim
• people who move and are already receiving Housing Benefit at another address in the borough
• anyone who already receives Housing Benefit, but where there is a change in the LHA rate because someone moves in with them or leaves the household.
If you already receive Housing Benefit, then the reduced LHA rate will not affect you until:
9 months after your anniversary date. Again, normally this is normally the anniversary date of the day the claim was made. For example, if your anniversary date is 1 June 2011, then your Housing Benefit will not be affected until 1 March 2012. However, this protection will stop if you move or your LHA rate changes.
The above gives only an overview of the change to the Local Housing Allowance. We will be writing to each person about the reduction to their Housing Benefit when the claim is reviewed on the anniversary date, advising them of the reduction that will happen in 9 months time.
For further advice about the changes please contact us at the Town Hall on 01737 276497 or email us at benefits@reigate-banstead.gov.uk. Please also refer to the Housing pages on this website.
Local Housing Allowance – non resident carers
If you have a carer who does not normally live with you, and you have a bedroom for them to stay overnight whilst they are providing care, then from April 2011 you will be able to claim the Local Housing Allowance at a higher rate because we can allow the extra bedroom.
To change your claim, please contact us providing details of your carer.
Non-dependant deductions
These changes were announced as part of the government’s welfare reform package announced in 2010. From April 2011 there will be increases in the rates of non-dependant deductions which are the deductions we make from your weekly housing benefit or council tax benefit for other adults who live in your household.
The rates of deduction depend on the income of the other adults, or non-dependants. The rates have remained unchanged for several years, and these represent the first increases since 2001.
The deductions will be based upon the most recent information that you have given us about the non-dependants and their income. It is important that you ensure that we are kept up to date with changes in their income, so we can ensure that the correct non-dependant deduction is being made.
We will write to you around February or March to advise you of your new rates of Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit from April 2011. Please check the information carefully, especially the income of the non-dependants on the letter, and advise us if anything appears wrong.
Details of the changes can be found on the Non-dependant deductions rates (PDF document [68.6Kb]).
Further changes to Housing Benefits from January 2012
From January 2012, Housing Benefit for single people under 35 will be restricted to the shared accommodation rate. Please see this Changes to Housing Benefit from 2012 (Wrod) (Word 7.0 document [15.6Kb]) document to see how you will be affected.
Contact
- tel 01737 276497
- email benefits.enquiries@reigate-banstead.gov.uk.
Last updated : 02/09/2011
