Information for landlords

Background

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was introduced on 7 April 2008. LHA is a new way of calculating new claims for Housing Benefit made by tenants renting accommodation from a private landlord.

It also affects tenants who are already getting Housing Benefit and have moved into accommodation rented from a private landlord. LHA does not affect people living in council accommodation or other social housing.

With LHA, the amount of benefit is not based on the property where the tenant lives.

LHA is based on:

• Who lives with the tenant
• Location of the property
• Tenant's income
• Tenant's savings

In some cases, the amount of benefit also depends on factors like:

• Amount of rent
• Whether anyone living with the tenant is expected to contribute to the rent.

Rules for entitlement are still based on factors like income, savings and proof of rent.

For information on the new LHA changes see our Housing Benefit changes as from 1 April 2011 page.

How does LHA affect me?
The only change for most landlords is that benefit from LHA is made direct to the tenant. The tenant is responsible for paying his rent to you.

LHA affects:
Any landlord who enters into a deregulated private tenancy agreement with a person awarded Housing Benefit.

A deregulated tenancy is one that started since 1989 and is not covered by one of the exceptions listed below.

LHA does not affect:

• Local authority landlords who let to 'council tenants'
• Tenancies with registered social landlords
• Some supported housing tenancies which started before 15 January 1989
• Tenancies in caravans, houseboats or hostels
• Tenancies where the Rent Officer has decided that a large part of the rent is for board and attendance.

What are the LHA rates for my property?
We publish LHA rates every month on our website and display them in our Revenue Information outlets.

LHA - current room rates

LHA - previous room rates

Please click here for Housing and Council Tax Benefit Form

For further information on Local Housing Allowance see our Frequently asked questions for Landlords page