Changes to Housing Benefit from April 2008

Local Housing Allowance was introduced in April 2008 and has changed the way that Housing Benefit is calculated.

Who is the Local Housing Allowance for?

It is for Private Tenants only, that is anyone entering into a tenancy agreement with a private landlord and does not include tenancies with the Council or Housing Associations.

Local Housing Allowance will be introduced for all new applications from April 2008.

Anybody who is already receiving Housing Benefit will only start getting Local Housing Allowance when they move house.

What will it do?

It gives tenants more choice over where they want to live.

Each month the Rent Officer will set the amount of Local Housing Allowance for each size of property, based on the number bedrooms. These will be published locally.

The amount of Local Housing Allowance payable to an individual will depend on how many bedrooms are needed to accommodate the household, not the amount of the rent. So any one thinking about moving home or making a new claim for benefit will be able to see how much Local Housing Allowance they are likely to receive.

You can choose to find somewhere where the rent is the same as the amount of Local Housing Allowance. Or to find somewhere cheaper and keep the difference up to a maximum of £15 per week. Or to find somewhere more expensive and make up the rest of the rent yourself.

It is fairer. People living in the same circumstances will receive the same amount.

If the number of people living in the household changes the Local Housing Allowance will change.

How is it paid?

Payment will be made directly to tenants, who will then be responsible for paying their landlord.

In some circumstances we may consider paying the landlord. Please contact us to discuss it further.

More information

Please see the pages below for more information about specific aspects of the scheme.

You can also visit the LHA - Direct website which enables tenants renting accommodation from a private landlord to calculate the possible amount of Housing Benefit available to them.

Page last reviewed 8 Apr 2008

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