Local Housing Allowance

Local Housing Allowance is a way of calculating and paying Housing Benefit for people who rent from a private landlord.

Who can get Local Housing Allowance?

Local Housing Allowance is for people on a low income living in private rented accommodation who make a new claim, move house or have a break in their existing Housing Benefit claim.

Who will not get Local Housing Allowance?

You will not receive Local Housing Allowance if:

• you are a Housing Association tenant
• you have a tenancy that started before 1989
• you live in a caravan, mobile home, house boat or hostel
• you are living in supported housing provided by the Council, a Registered Social Landlord, a charity or a voluntary organisation
• the Rent Officer decides that a substantial part of your rent is for board and attendance.

How much Local Housing Allowance can I get?

The amount of Local Housing Allowance you can get depends on:

• who lives with you (how many bedrooms your household needs). Foster children will not be taken into account for calculating the Local Housing Allowance rate
• the maximum bedroom allowance for Local Housing Allowance is 4 bedrooms, even if you need 5 bedrooms or more
• what money you and your household have coming in
• what savings you and /or your partner have.

A bedroom is also allowed for a non resident carer who stays overnight on a regular basis to look after a person who requires care in their home and is in receipt of either Disability Living Allowance middle or higher rate or Attendance Allowance. A spare bedroom must be available to qualify for the additional room rate.

Local Housing Allowance does not take account of how much rent you pay. The Local Housing Allowance rates are set by the Valuation Office Agency and are based on local rent levels. From April 2012 the Local Housing Allowance rates will change annually, so they will stay the same each month until April 2013. These rates are the maximum amount of Local Housing Allowance you may get. You may get less than the maximum rate depending on your circumstances.

Please see current Local Housing Allowance rates for further details.

To help make sure you receive the allowance you are entitled to, you can use our online Room Calculator.

What’s different about Local Housing Allowance?

You will usually get any Local Housing Allowance paid direct to you and you will have to pay the rent to your landlord. Knowing the amount of Local Housing Allowance that you will get means that when you are looking for somewhere to live you can work out what rent you can afford, and choose accommodation that suits you.

What happens if I am already getting Housing Benefit?

If you already get Housing Benefit your claim can only be transferred to the Local Housing Allowance scheme if you change address or have a break in your entitlement.

If you are already receiving Housing Benefit the new rates will apply on the anniversary date of your claim.

How will Local Housing Allowance be paid?

In most cases we will pay Local Housing Allowance directly to you. You cannot choose to have your Local Housing Allowance paid direct to your landlord. If your landlord agrees to reduce the rent to the new Local Housing Allowance rate, we may pay your Housing Benefit direct to them if it helps you secure or renew a tenancy. You will need to make sure that you have a bank or building society account set up so that your Local Housing Allowance can be paid directly into it.

You can arrange for your bank or building society to pay your rent direct to your landlord by a standing order or direct debit. If you don’t have an account you may want to think about opening one now. For information on basic bank accounts and how to open one please see our Guide to Basic Bank Accounts.

In some exceptional cases we may decide to pay your Local Housing Allowance directly to your landlord. We have to consider your individual circumstances and be satisfied that you are unable to manage your finances. Our safeguard policy sets out the rules for when we may pay your Local Housing Allowance directly to your landlord.

If you think you may have difficulties managing your rent payments, you can request that your benefit is paid direct to your landlord by completing a Direct Payment Request.

How do I find out more?

If you have any questions about Local Housing Allowance you can contact us using the details on the right hand side of this page. You can also find more detailed information about Local Housing Allowance on the Directgov website.