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From 7th April 2008 the Government is introducing a new scheme called Local Housing Allowance (LHA). This is a new way of deciding rent payments for people receiving Housing Benefit. It does not replace Housing Benefit. It uses a flat rate allowance based on the size of the tenant's household and the area in which they rent property to decide the maximum amount of benefit they will receive. This amount is not directly related to the rent that the tenant is charged, so the benefit received may be higher or lower than the contractual rent. The rate of LHA that a customer may receive will be reviewed on an annual basis.

Tenants/Claimants

From April 2008 you will be able to identify the maximum amount of Housing Benefit that you could receive, as it will relate to your household composition.

This will only be applicable if you are in private rented accommodation (not a Housing Association or Council Tenant). 

Please view the Local Housing Allowance Rates page to see how many bedrooms your entitlement will be based on and the Local Housing Allowance rates for the current month as advised by the Rent Service.

Information Leaflets

You can find out further information about Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the downloadable pdf leaflets below:

• HB (LHA1) Introduction to LHA - an introduction to Local Housing Allowance, giving a brief overview
• HB (LHA2) Working out your LHA - how to work out your LHA entitlement
• HB (LHA2CL) Working out your LHA - Care Leavers
• HB (LHA2CP) Working out your LHA - Couples
• HB (LHA2JT) Working out your LHA - Joint Tenants
• HB (LHA2OT) Working out your LHA - Over 25's
• HB (LHA2SD) Working out your LHA - Severely Disabled
• HB (LHA2UT) Working out your LHA - Under 25's
• HB (LHA3) Tenants who are likely to have difficulty paying their rent - the procedure for when a tenant has difficulty paying their rent
• HB (LHA4) Information for private landlords - an overview of how private landlords may be affected
• HB (LHA6) Rights and responsibilities - an explanation of how a tenant is paid and the responsibility to pay this on to their landlord
• HB (LHA7) Reviews and appeals - how to appeal your amount of Housing Benefit if you think it has been calculated incorrectly
• HB (LHA8) Money advice for tenants - General money advice and agencies that can help

Local Housing Allowance will normally be paid to the claimant rather than the landlord. In recognition of the risk that some tenants may struggle with the responsibility of budgeting for and paying for their rent, safeguards will be put in place. In some circumstances the local authority can use its discretion to make payment to a landlord. Information on these circumstances and how to apply for payments to be made to landlord can be found in the safeguard policy below, with application forms.

The following document is our Safeguard Policy including application forms:

• Local Housing Allowance Safeguard Policy

An application form for requesting payments to be paid direct to yor landlord can be found below:

• Application for Direct Payments

Landlords

If you are concerned your tenant is not paying the rent and they are nearly 8 weeks in arrears, you may ask for payments to be paid to you. An application form to request payments are paid directly to you can be found below:

• Landlord Application Form for 8 weeks in arrears

Several landlord forums have been held and the questions which arose are attached here:

Local Housing Allowance - Question and Answer

Please note: The documents linked to this page are held in PDF format. To view the documents you will need to have 'Adobe Reader' installed on your PC. 'Adobe Reader' can be downloaded for free by clicking on the symbol below which will open up the Adobe website in a new window:

Useful Links

• Department for Work & Pensions Website - LHA page
• Financial Services Authority - advice on opening a Basic Bank Account
• The Rent Service website