Information for Landlords on Housing Benefit

The amount of Housing Benefit a claimant is entitled to, is changing from April 2011

The changes mean that the amount of Housing Benefit a claimant is entitled to may go down. We appreciate that landlords you will have questions or concerns about the April Changes. We aim to resolve these queries whilst providing you with guidance on how best to deal with such changes.

April changes that will benefit you:

Direct payment provisions

Payment of Housing Benefit can be made direct to the landlord if we (the Local Authority), considers it may help the customer to secure an existing or new tenancy.

A claimant who is disabled may be entitled to an additional bedroom in the LHA size criteria for a non-resident carer if they require care overnight; this change can be advantageous and sometimes disadvantageous, depending on the individual's circumstances.

What can I do about this?

If you think a tenant may be entitled to an additional bedroom for a carer, we would recommend that you advise your tenant to contact us for advice.

Other April changes that may affect you:

The LHA rates will be based on the lowest 30% of local rents not the middle range. This means the LHA rates for all sizes of property will be lower.
If the claimant lives in a house with 5 or more bed rooms the HB will be based on the LHA rate for a four bed roomed property.
A £15 pound excess will no longer be available to claimants whose rent is lower than the LHA rate they are entitled to.

Other Changes

The Government has announced an upper limit on all LHA amounts. The weekly rates in any area cannot be more than £250 for a one bedroom property, £290 for a two bedroom property, £340 for a three bedroom property and £400 for a four bedroom property.

This change does not affect Oxford as the LHA rates are much lower than these caps. If you would like further information about this and how LHA will be affected, please visit the LHA pages of the Directgov website.

What can I do about this?

As the amount of LHA payable will be restricted, it may be worth considering (if it is feasible), to reduce the amount of rent charged, so that it is in line with the new LHA rates.

If reducing the amount of rent charged is not an option, we would recommend you advise your tenants to contact the Housing Needs Team to discuss their housing options and employment issues.

If your tenant is in a five bedroom property, please ask them to contact the Housing Needs Team to arrange for a home visit to discuss their housing options and employment issues.