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The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is a flat-rate allowance that
is the maximum amount you could receive in Housing Benefit towards
rent costs if you rent your property from a private Landlord.
This does not apply to certain tenancy types for example Housing
Associations (Registered Social Landlords). LHA is based on
household size and make up, the number of bedrooms needed and
the area in which you live. The actual amount of Housing
Benefit you get will still depend on your income and savings.
LHA will be paid to the tenant, except in cases where tenants
are likely to have difficulty in managing their financial
affairs, or where tenants have fallen into arrears, please see our
Safeguard Policy. In such
circumstances benefit may be paid to a landlord or agent.
The Rent Service provides each local authority with the LHA
rates for each month. From April 2012 these will remain unchanged
for a
year.
See rates for South Somerset
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The Local Housing Allowance rate depends on the number of people
in the claimant's household and the area in which they live.
The size criteria determines the number of bedrooms that the
household qualifies for and allows a bedroom for each of the
following:
- Every adult couple
- Any other adult aged 16 and over
- Any two children under the age of 10 irrespective of their
sex
- Any two children of the same sex until either reach
16
- Any other child
There are, however, the following exceptions:
- Single claimants under the age of 35 will be entitled to the
shared
accommodation rate
- Single claimants aged 35 and over and couples without dependent
children will
be entitled to the shared accommodation rate if they choose to live
in accommodation with shared facilities
- Single care leavers aged under 22 always qualify for the
one-bedroom rate regardless of the type and size of property (the
shared accommodation rate will apply from the age of 22 to 35)
The Direct
gov website will assist tenants, renting accommodation
from a private landlord, to calculate the possible amount of
Housing Benefit that may be available to them under the LHA
scheme.
Once established the Local Housing Allowance rate will apply for
one year and will be reviewed on it's anniversary date.
Under the scheme the following changes may result in a change to
the Local Housing Allowance rate before the year elapses:
- A change which may entitle the claimant to a different room
rate, for example a change to the number or ages of the
occupiers
Changes to Local Housing Allowance from April 2011
to Local Housing Allowance from 1st April 2011
The changes apply immediately to all new claims made from April
2011. For existing customers, they will not be affected until the
anniversary date of their claim.
The anniversary date is the annual review date of the Local
Housing Allowance figure used to assess your current claim.
From April 2011 the Government has:
- Ended the maximum £15 weekly Housing Benefit excess that some
customers receive.
- Removed the five bedroom Local Housing Allowance rate so that
the maximum level is a four bedroom property
- Allowed extra help to disabled people who have a carer who
stays overnight but does not normally stay live with them. The
change means that Local Housing Allowance will allow an extra
bedroom where your property has an extra bedroom (this change is
effective from April 2011)
- Introduced an absolute cap to the weekly Local Housing
Allowance. However, this is unlikely to affect properties in
the South Somerset Area.
Local Housing Allowance rates are based upon the average market
rent in an area. This is being reduced from the mid point to
properties in the bottom third.
So, in each market area, if there were 100 rental properties,
the Local Housing Allowance would be based on the 30th
lowest of those 100 properties. This means generally, that
Local Housing Allowance will only fully cover rents of the lower
priced properties. Anyone wanting to rent a higher rented
property may have to pay the difference.
By making this change the Government expect that about 3 in 10
properties for rent in our area should be affordable to people on
Housing Benefit, rather than every 5 in 10 properties as
previously.
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How the changes will affect you FAQ's
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I started getting Housing Benefit before April 2008, could the
changes affect me?
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Provided that you continue to live in the same property and you
do not have a break in your Housing Benefit claim, the Local
Housing Allowance arrangements will not apply to you.
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What happens if I move?
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If you are an existing customer and move to privately
rented accommodation, your claim will be calculated under the new
Local Housing Allowance rules as amended from April 2011.
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New customers from April 2011
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- New customers from April 2011 will get the LHA rates based
on the new calculation.
Existing LHA customers from April 2011
- Existing customers will get the LHA rates based on the new
calculation after April as soon as:
- they move or
- their LHA rate needs changing due to a change in the
household
- Existing customers who do not fall into the above categories
will keep their current LHA rate until their anniversary
date. They will also have an additional nine months
Transitional Protection following that date.
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When is my anniversary date?
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Your anniversary date is normally the date you first made your
current claim. For example, if you claimed Housing Benefit on 5
September 2011 your anniversary date is 5 September 2012.
This means that the changes the Government has made from 1 April
2011, such as removing the £15 excess or capping Local Housing
Allowance rates, could affect you from 5 September
2011. Your Local Housing Allowance anniversary date may
vary from the start date of your claim where there has been a
change in the number or age of people in your household that affect
the LHA size criteria. |
What Happens if I move?
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| If you are an existing customer and move to privately rented
accommodation, your claim will be calculated under the new Local
Housing Allowance rules as amended from April 2011. |
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The rent I am paying now is likely to be more than the Housing
Benefit I will get when the changes come in. What should I do?
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You can talk to your landlord about the changes and see if they
will drop the rent on your property. If that isn't possible, you
could start looking for somewhere cheaper. You might want to talk
about your situation with our Housing Advice Team or the Citizens Advice Bureau.
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My landlord won't reduce my rent and it is going to be
difficult for me to move, is there any other help?
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| We can help some people with a Discretionary Housing
Payment to meet the gap between benefit entitlement and the
rent payable. The amount of money available for these payments is
limited, so we will have to consider your circumstances
carefully. |
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Do I have to be getting Housing Benefit under Local Housing
Allowance arrangements to get the allowance for another bedroom for
an overnight carer?
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| No. This change applies to all tenants who meet the qualifying
conditions and live in privately rented accommodation, no matter
how their Housing Benefit is worked out. |
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I think I will be due an increase in my Housing Benefit
because I have a carer who stays overnight - who should I
tell?
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Make sure that we know that you have an overnight carer so that
we can look at your Housing Benefit entitlement again when the
changes come in. You must already have an extra bedroom in your
home available for the carer to use before you get this help. If
you are already getting Housing Benefit and meet the conditions for
this extra help, you will be entitled to it from the date the
legislation becomes effective.
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What about extra rooms for other circumstances such as
disabled children, couples who cannot share a room, or where extra
space is needed for medical equipment?
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The change only applies where the person making the Housing
Benefit claim, or their partner, needs overnight care from someone
outside the household.
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If you are single and under 35
The Government has changed the rules that apply to single people
living in self-contained accommodation and aged 25 or more, but
under 35. This means that they will only be entitled to the lower
rate of Housing Benefit for a room in shared accommodation.
In practice, this means that
- single claimants under age 35 making new claims to HB on or
after
1 January 2012 will be entitled to the shared accommodation rate
rather than the one-bedroom self-contained rate
- existing claimants at that date who are receiving transitional
protection from the April 2011 LHA changes will move to the shared
accommodation rate at the same time as their transitional
protection ceases
- existing claimants not receiving transitional protection, i.e.
those whose claims are made on or after 1 April 2011 but before 1
January 2012, will move to the shared accommodation rate on the
anniversary date of their claim
- pre-LHA cases will move to the shared accommodation rate
(previously known as the single room rent) on the annual review of
their case
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