Local Housing Allowance (LHA)
Information about Local Housing Allowance which took effect from 7 April 2008
From 7 April 2008, people renting from a private landlord and changing address or making a new Housing Benefit Claim will have their benefit calculated under new rules known as Local Housing Allowance.
The Local Housing Allowance rate is determined by location. To find out if your property falls under the Crawley and Reigate or the Outer South area, please use the post code finder function on the LHA direct (Directgov website).
LHA rates
| 1 February 2012- LHA rates - Outer South | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | |||||
| Shared | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | 4 bed | |
| 76.20 | 155.77 | 196.15 | 252.00 | 311.54 | |
| Monthly | |||||
| Shared | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | 4 bed | |
| 330.20 | 675.00 | 849.98 | 1092.00 | 1350.01 | |
| 1 February 2012- LHA rates - Crawley and Reigate | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weekly | |||||
| Shared | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | 4 bed | |
| 79.50 | 144.23 | 173.08 | 207.69 | 288.46 | |
| Monthly | |||||
| Shared | 1 bed | 2 bed | 3 bed | 4 bed | |
| 344.50 | 625.00 | 750.01 | 899.99 | 1249.99 | |
Previous LHA rates
For full details of all previous LHA rates since the 7 April 2008 please see the LHA Direct (Directgov website). Please also be aware that the five bedroom LHA rate has been abolished effective 1 April 2011
LHA details
Those not covered by the new LHA are:
- Council tenants
- Registered Housing Association tenants
- tenants with a registered 'fair rent'
- pre 1989 tenancies
- tenancies provided by a charitable or voluntary organisation which include care, support and supervision
- tenants of caravans, mobile homes and houseboats.
For LHA, the Rent service's current valuations of individual accommodation will be replaced. Instead, the Rent Service will set a flat rate Local Housing Allowance for properties in the broad market area based upon the number of bedrooms. this will form the starting point of the Local Housing Allowance calculation.
Entitlement will still be assessed taking into account a claimant's income, capital and personal circumstances and thus maybe paid at a lower rate than the Rent Service's figure.
The Local Housing Allowance for differing sizes of accommodation will be set by the Rent Service each month and these details will be published by the Housing Benefit Service.
Bedrooms
The rate is based on how many bedrooms are required for the number of people living in the property. It allows one bedroom for: -
- every adult couple
- any other adult aged 16 or over
- any two children of the same sex under 16
- any two children regardless of sex aged under 10
- any other child.
The Local Housing Allowance will be the rate for the month in which the claim starts. Unless there is some relevant change e.g. the birth of a child, that changes the amount of bedrooms needed for the household otherwise the Local Housing Allowance will be unchanged for 52 weeks.
It is only the number of bedrooms that are counted. The number of living rooms, bathrooms and so on are not taken into account. Therefore a single parent with a daughter of 12 and a son of 8 will have their benefit calculated from the Local Housing Allowance for a three bedroomed property. If the rent is higher than the Local Housing Allowance the claimant will have to make up the extra payment themselves.
Payment methods will also change with the introduction of LHA
Unless a claimant is vulnerable and will experience great difficulty managing their rental payments, or it is improbable that the claimant would pay their rent, the LHA will be paid directly to the claimant. If a claimant and their representative feels they are vulnerable, benefit can be paid to their landlord. the benefit payable to the landlord will not exceed the eligible rent. if the LHA is more than the rent the excess will be paid directly to the claimant. However, it would be possible to pay the extra money to the landlord if there were rent arrears, but the landlord would need to prove this to us.
Any request for payment to a landlord will need to be supported by evidence from a third party. Information and evidence will be considered from, amongst others:
- Social Services or Adult Social Care Teams
- DWP
- support or advisory services like the Citizens Advice Bureau or our network of Help Shops
- GP
- family or friends.
Evidence from a landlord cannot be considered sufficient, and a decision to pay a landlord must be reviewed periodically.
To safeguard tenants and landlords, we have a policy to work to, which will ensure that any decisions are clear and fair.
If you want payments to be made direct to you landlord please complete this form Local Housing Allowance paying your landlord directly .
Benefit can still be paid to the landlord if a tenant falls into arrears of eight weeks or more. Written proof of the arrears will be required and so landlords should ensure they keep detailed records of the rent account.
Contact
If you would like more information about LHA please call 01737 276497 or see the Direct Gov LHA Direct (Directgov website).
Last updated : 07/02/2012
