Finance and Asset Management Service

LOCAL HOUSING ALLOWANCE  

From 7 April 2008, the Housing Benefit Regulations changed for private sector tenants and a new way of calculating the maximum rent level was introduced. This is called Local Housing Allowance.

Who will the Local Housing Allowance rules apply to?

Local Housing Allowance affects Housing Benefit claimants in the deregulated private sector if:

• they make a new claim for benefit OR
• they change address or
• they have a break in their current claim

It does not affect claimants who:

• are already in receipt of Housing Benefit OR
• live in a caravan or hostel OR
• are council tenants or Housing Association tenants

Click here for Housing Benefit Application

How is Local Housing Allowance calculated?  

The maximum amount of Housing Benefit a tenant can receive is set in advance by the Rent Officer – this figure is not dependant on the amount of rent charged. The maximum amount of benefit a tenant can receive is the same for every same size household in the area in which they live regardless of the differences in the actual rents charged.

What is the size criteria?

The number of rooms that a tenant requires is based on Housing Benefit rules:

With the exception of single claimants aged under 25, one bedroom is counted for:

• every adult couple
• any other adult aged 16 or over
• any 2 children of the same sex until they are 16
• any 2 children regardless of sex, aged under 10
• any other child

What about single claimants aged under 25?

Single claimants aged under 25 years who live on their own are entitled to the standard rate for a room in shared accommodation.

The Broad Rental Market Area

The Broad Rental Market Area is set by the Rent Officer and the whole of the East Ayrshire Council area is one broad rental market area.

Setting Local Housing Allowance

The Rent Officer sets the Local Housing Allowance rate for different sized properties within the Broad Rental Market Area

The Rent Officer publishes the new Local Housing Allowance rates each month. The figures for East Ayrshire Council are on display at the Benefits Counter, Civic Centre, Kilmarnock, in our local offices and on our website.

Click here for LHA figures

How long does Local Housing Allowance stay in place?

Once Local Housing Allowance has been used to establish a claimant’s maximum rent it will apply from the date of claim and will continue for 1 year. It will then be reassessed using the Local Housing Allowance rates at the time of reassessment. If there is an increase to a tenant’s rent during that year we will not reassess Housing Benefit entitlement and the tenant will be responsible for paying the increased amount. We will however reassess a claimant’s maximum rent if the claimant has a change to the number of people who live with them.

If the rent being charged to a claimant is less than the Local Housing Allowance rate, the claimant will receive the difference between the rent charge and the Local Housing Allowance rate up to a maximum of £15.00 each week.

How is Local Housing Allowance paid?

Local Housing Allowance is almost always paid direct to the claimant either every 2 or 4 weeks by crossed cheque depending on whether rent is charged on a weekly or monthly basis.

It is advisable for tenants who do not already hold a bank or building society account to open one (cheques cannot be paid into Post Office accounts). Basic bank accounts are available from most banks and building societies.

National Benefits Leaflet website: www.benefit-leaflets.org

We can in certain cases make payment direct to the landlord but we will only do this where we think a tenant will have serious problems in paying their rent or managing their own affairs.

We will make a decision on every case individually and will always speak to the tenant before we come to a decision. We may ask for evidence to support a claim. The tenant, their landlord or someone acting on their behalf may make the application for payment to go to the landlord.

Click here for Application for Direct Payment to Landlord

What happens if there are rent arrears?

If a tenant is in arrears of 8 weeks or more then we can make payments direct to the landlord.

If we pay the landlord instead of the tenant this will be for a limited period and will be reviewed regularly. If the tenant clears the arrears we will consider reverting back to paying the tenant.

Who can appeal?

Neither the tenant nor the landlord can appeal against the Local Housing Allowance rate. This is because the level is set for the whole Broad Rental Market Area and any change would affect people who are happy with the rate.