Local housing allowance
Introduction
Local housing allowance (LHA) is a new scheme for people in privately rented accommodation who make a new claim for housing benefit on or after 7 April 2008.
If you are already receiving housing benefit on this date, these new rules will not apply to you. However, if you move address or stop claiming housing benefit for at least one week, we will work out your new claim under the LHA rules.
LHA replaces the old rent referral scheme with a system of local housing allowances based on the area in which the tenant lives and the number of people in the household.
This new scheme will remove the need for the Rent Service
to value each individual property and will mean that you can find out how much LHA you will be entitled to before you move into a property without the need to complete a pre tenancy determination form.
Every property in the country will be included in a specific broad rental market area (BRMA).
How LHA is calculated
We have set out the details of how you can calculate the LHA which you will receive.
How LHA is paid
Local housing allowance will be paid to the tenant directly or into a bank account. If you do not have a bank account you will need to a open a new account. The Financial Services Authority has information about basic bank accounts (pdf 64kb)
.
There are a few occasions where LHA can be paid to a landlord. these include:
Introduction
Local housing allowance (LHA) is a new scheme for people in privately rented accommodation who make a new claim for housing benefit on or after 7 April 2008.
If you are already receiving housing benefit on this date, these new rules will not apply to you. However, if you move address or stop claiming housing benefit for at least one week, we will work out your new claim under the LHA rules.
LHA replaces the old rent referral scheme with a system of local housing allowances based on the area in which the tenant lives and the number of people in the household.
This new scheme will remove the need for the Rent Service
to value each individual property and will mean that you can find out how much LHA you will be entitled to before you move into a property without the need to complete a pre tenancy determination form.Every property in the country will be included in a specific broad rental market area (BRMA).
How LHA is calculated
We have set out the details of how you can calculate the LHA which you will receive.
How LHA is paid
Local housing allowance will be paid to the tenant directly or into a bank account. If you do not have a bank account you will need to a open a new account. The Financial Services Authority has information about basic bank accounts (pdf 64kb)
.There are a few occasions where LHA can be paid to a landlord. these include:
- if you are eight or more weeks behind with your rent
- if we think that you will have difficulty paying your rent
- if we think that you will not pay your rent
We can also consider paying your landlord if you think that you will have difficulty with these arrangements. You will need to contact us to discuss this, you will be asked to complete a form and provide supporting evidence.
Exemptions
Some properties are exempt from LHA:
Exemptions
Some properties are exempt from LHA:
- tenancies with registered social landlords (e.g. housing associations)
- tenancies that began before 15 January 1989
- some supported housing
- caravans, houseboats and hostels
- if the rent officer decides that a substantial part of your rent is for meals that are cooked for you
Further information
We have produced two leaflets to help you understand the local housing allowance:
