Local Housing Allowance
Summary
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is the name for housing benefit for tenants in privately rented accommodation.
If you're already claiming LHA and you're here for the latest rates, download this month's by following the link under 'Downloads' below.
Important!
Local Housing Allowance is changing. LHA for private tenants is reducing from 1 April 2011.
For New Claims or Changes of Address:
The LHA rates used to work out Housing Benefit claims will go down from 1 April 2011 for the following reasons:
- The rates will be calculated using a narrower range of rents, which will result in lower figures throughout our area. For more information, visit the Valuation Rent Officers website
- The maximum number of bedrooms allowed is reduced to 4
- The rate used will be the lower of the rent charged and the LHA rate that month; there will be no longer be any top-up
Important change from January 2012
For single customers aged 25 to 34
From January 2012 the Government is planning to change the rules that apply to most single people aged between 25 and 35, who do not have children and live in self-contained accommodation.
The change means that, instead of the current one bedroom Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rate, you would move onto the LHA rate for shared accommodation, which will be much lower.
If you make a new claim for Housing Benefit after these changes will affect you straight away.
If you are already on benefit they will take effect on the anniversary of your claim or, if you have qualified for 9 month protection, when that runs out - unless you have a change in circumstances that would end the protection sooner.
For instance if your anniversary date was September 2011 the changes will not affect you until June 2012. However – if you change address in March 2012 the reduction in benefit will take place in March.
As LHA rates can change each month we cannot advise people in advance how much their benefit will change. Details of current LHA rates can be found below.
The following people aged under 35 are exempt from these changes:
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households with children
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households with non-dependants
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young people leaving care, until they are 22 years old
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a young person who qualifies for the severe disability premium in their Housing Benefit, Income Support or Job Seekers Allowance
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a young person who requires a overnight carer
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a young person who has spent 3 months or more in a homeless hostel, where that young people has engaged with rehabilitation and resettlement support services.
See Contact Us below if you would like more detailed information.
For Existing Claims on 1 April 2011:
At the first ‘anniversary’ date after 1 April 2011:
- The top-up above the rent charged will end immediately
- There will be protection against the other changes (the lower LHA rates and maximum of 4 bedrooms) for 9 months after the ‘anniversary’ date
The anniversary date is the month each year that LHA is revised. For example, if the anniversary date is 12 April, the claim will be protected for 9 months until 12 January 2012.
After that 9-month protection ends, the claim will be based on the lower of the rent charged and the LHA rate for the anniversary month.
This means that housing benefit will reduce
Housing benefit will reduce earlier if there are other changes – for example, a member of the household leaves or there is a change of address or a break in claim.
One Other Change
There will be an extra room allowed from 1 April 2011 if a carer needs to stay overnight to care for someone who is disabled. This carer must be someone who does not normally live with in the household and there must be a bedroom available for their use.
You must contact the Benefits Team at the council if this applies to you.
Downloads
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Further information
Do you qualify for the Local Housing Allowance?
Step one: what type of tenancy do you have?
If you rent your home privately (e.g. from a landlord) you may qualify for the Local Housing Allowance, except if:
- you are renting your home from a housing association (e.g. Saffron Housing Trust);
- you pay rent for accommodation where care, support and supervision is provided (e.g. by a housing association, a local authority, a charity or a voluntary organisation);
- your tenancy began before 15 January 1989 or is under the same rules that applied then, or;
- you live in a caravan, houseboat, mobile home or a hostel (including temporary bed and breakfast accommodation).
These tenancies will have their benefit assessed under the normal housing benefit rules that applied befor the LHA scheme started. Get an estimate of how much you might be entitled to online, or make a claim now.
How is LHA calculated?
The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) provides us with LHA rates each month. There will be a set of rates ranging from a shared 1-room rate up to a maximum 5–room rate (maximum 4 rooms for new claims from April 2011). The rate you are entitled to will depend on who lives with you and which area you live in (known as the Broad Rental Market Area).
Step two: how many rooms can you claim for?
This will depend on the number of people who live with you. For example a single person under 25 will only be entitled to the shared rate LHA. If you are over 25 with or without a partner, and you have no children, then you will be entitled to the shared rate if you live in shared accommodation or the one bedroom rate if you live in self-contained accommodation.
For everyone else with children or non-dependants then the LHA is based on the number of bedrooms you are allowed.
From April 2011, an extra room is allowed for a carer (or a team of carers) who needs to stay overnight and who doesn’t actually live in your home.
The size criteria is based solely on the number of bedrooms needed.
One bedroom is allowed for each of the following:
- Every adult couple;
- Any other adult aged 16 or over
- Any two children of the same sex up to 15 years;
- Any two children regardless of sex under age 10;
- Any other child.
What are the rates of LHA?
The VOA sets the levels of LHA every month for properties of up to 4 rooms (comprising of bedrooms and living rooms). The current rates can be downloaded by following the link under 'downloads' above. There are two Broad Rental Market Areas (BRMAs) covering South Norfolk:
- Central Norfolk and Norwich
- Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth
These are generally based upon postcodes – you can contact the Benefits team if you are not sure which BRMA applies to you.
If the rent is higher than the LHA, the tenant will normally have to pay the extra cost, although in exceptional circumstances there may be extra help available (see Discretionary Housing Payments). Other benefit rules regarding income, capital, members of the household and rent liability apply in the same way to LHA as to housing benefit.
What to do next
As with Housing Benefit, finding out whether you qualify for Local Housing Allowance, and how much you would get, is more complex than simply answering the questions in Step one and Step two above.
The best thing to do is to make a benefit claim. If you would like some help and advice on the Local Housing Allowance system, our contact details are given below.
We have also produced some guidance notes on the Local Housing Allowance for vulnerable tenants, which explains the circumstances in which the Allowance can be paid direct to a landlord:
Download the Local Housing Allowance Guide for Vulnerable Tenants [PDF, 57k]
Related pages on this website
Contact us
| contact officer/team: | Local Housing Allowance Officer |
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| web: | online enquiry form |
| email: | benefitsmailbox@s-norfolk.gov.uk |
| freephone: | 0808 178 7143 |
| telephone: | 01508 533923 |
| minicom/textphone: | 01508 533622 |
| address: | South Norfolk Council South Norfolk House Swan Lane Long Stratton Norwich NR15 2XE |
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If you need information in large print, audio cassette, braille, translation (written or verbal) or signed interpretation, let us know when you contact us.
Last updated on: 07 October 2011