Local Housing Allowance
What is it?
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) replaces the Rent Allowance Scheme
from 7th April 2008.
Local Housing Allowance is the Government's new way of working
out Housing Benefit for people who rent from a private landlord.
The amount you get will be based on the number of bedrooms your
household needs, not how much rent you pay.
Who will be affected? 
LHA will affect:
- people who claim help with rent after 7th April 2008
- existing benefit claimants who move house to a privately rented
property
- existing claimants who have a break of one week or more
in their benefit entitlement
LHA will not affect:
- A1 Housing tenants
- tenants of registered social landlords
- tenants of houseboats & caravans
- tenants who have substantial board & lodge included in
their rent
- tenancies prior to January 1989
- supported housing provided by social landlords, charities and
voluntary organisations
How will Local Housing Allowance be worked out?
This will be based on the number of bedrooms your household
needs, not necessarily the number of bedrooms you have.
The Government allows a set number of bedrooms as follows:
one bedroom allowed each for:
| every adult couple (married or unmarried) |
| any other adult over 16yrs (eg a single adult) |
| any two children of the same sex, under the age of 16yrs |
| any two children of either sex,under 10 yrs |
| any other child |
Use our Bedroom Entitlement
Calculator to work out how many bedrooms would be allowed for
your household to work out your LHA rate.
| example:- a couple who live in a three-bed roomed
house with two children of the opposite sex, but both children
under the age of 10yrs, would be assessed as needing two bedrooms
and would therefore have their future LHA based on the rate for a
two-bed roomed house.
In the above example, when the elder child reaches 10yrs the
LHA rate would increase to the three-bedroomed rate. This is
because a bedroom would now be allowed for each child.
|
What's the next step?
Once the number of bedrooms you need is worked out, the next
step is to look up the Local Housing Allowance rate for the area
that you live. The Valuation Office Agency has reviewed all areas
of the U.K, containing privately rented accommodation and has set
these areas depending on their access to services, transport,
schools etc. These will be known as Broad Rental Market
Areas (BRMA)
Bassetlaw will fall into three Broad market Rental
Areas, they are:
- Mansfield, Worksop and Retford (North Notts)
- Doncaster
- Newark & Grantham
Each area will have monthly LHA rates set by the Valuation
Office Agency and these will be published here on these pages
so that you can check how much your Benefit will be based on. They
will also be published on the Valuation
Office Agency's website.
Local Housing Allowance updated
monthly- March 2010
| Category |
Description |
North
Notts
|
Doncaster |
Newark &
Grantham
|
| A |
Shared or under 25 years |
£59.00
|
£56.15 |
£58.50 |
| B |
1 bedroomed |
£79.70 |
£84.23 |
£81.13 |
| C |
2 bedroomed |
£96.66 |
£95.51 |
£103.56 |
| D |
3 bedroomed |
£109.32 |
£109.32 |
£119.67 |
| E |
4 bedroomed |
£149.59 |
£146.72 |
£161.10 |
| F |
5 bedroomed |
£172.60 |
£182.96 |
£218.63 |
These rates will be updated each month.
What happens when I apply for Housing Benefit?
Each month the Valuation Office Agency will publish figures for
each category (no. of bedrooms) and rental area. The amount
used in your benefit calculation will be fixed for a period of 12
months, unless there is a change in circumstance which would affect
the number of bedrooms you need or the area you live in. It
would still be based on the fixed LHA rate even if your rent
increases during this twelve month period.
To work out a claim, the Council still needs to collect the same
information and evidence as before for rent, capital and
income. This has not changed. The LHA rate is used in
the calculation of entitlement in the same way as before, so your
income level could affect the amount you are entitled to.
If the rent you have to pay weekly is lower than the LHA rate,
you could be entitled to keep the difference up to a weekly maximum
of £15. There will be no right of appeal against the LHA
rates provided by the Valuation Office Agency but a tenant would
still be able to appeal to the Council, as usual, about the level
of benefit awarded.
How will you pay my allowance?
Under the old rent allowance rules we could pay Housing Benefit
either to the claimant or direct to the landlord or someone
else. Under the new rules we will pay the LHA direct to the
claimant who will be responsible for paying the rent
themselves.
However there may be occasions where it would be more
appropriate to to make the LHA payments direct to the
landlord. This will be looked at on an individual basis by
the Council and applies to vulnerable tenants and those who think
they may have difficulties paying the rent themselves.
Please click on the link below to view the Council's
vulnerability policy.
Vulnerability Policy
If you would like to be considered for direct payments to
your landlord please contact us on 01777 713855 or download and
print a form from the forms to download page
Will I need a bank account?
It would be better if we could pay your LHA directly into a bank
account, not by cheque. Receiving your LHA this way means you
can:
- get your money quicker, with funds clearing straight
away
- get your money at cash machines, your bank branch, the
post office and at some supermarkets who offer
'Cashback' facilities
- set up a standing order from your account to pay your
rent to the landlord
In addition
- your money is safer, as cheques can go missing or be
stolen
- no more queuing up to cash a cheque or to pay it in to
your bank. Sooner or later,cheques will be phased
out
- its cheaper for the Council to pay direct to a bank
account
The Council will ask you for your bank account number and sort
code. All details are kept strictly confidential and secure
and won't be used for any other purpose.
Last Updated - 04/03/2010