Local Housing Allowance (LHA)

LHA is used to work out housing benefit for tenants in privately rented accommodation. How much Housing Benefit you get is usually based on the Local Housing Allowance Limit in your area, your income and circumstances.

For example, from April 2014, the LHAs for central London are:

If you’ve been getting Housing Benefit since before 7 April 2008, these limits only apply if you:

• change address;

• have a break in your claim for Housing Benefit.

The amount of Housing Benefit you get from the council may not be enough to pay all of your rent. If this happens, housing and homeless charity Shelter advises that options could include:

• applying to the council for a discretionary housing payment;

• looking at your monthly outgoings to see if you can make any savings;

• negotiating a cheaper rent with your landlord, in return for the council making your Housing Benefit payments directly to them;

• moving somewhere cheaper.

Usually, Housing Benefit is paid directly to the person who claims it, and that person is expected to pay the rent. However, the council must make the LHA payments direct to your landlord if:

• you have rent arrears of eight weeks or more;

• it is already making deductions from your Income Support, Jobseeker’s Allowance or Employment Support Allowance to pay for rent arrears.

In some circumstances, the council can choose to pay your Housing Benefit direct to your landlord. It is up to the council to decide whether to do this, but it might do so if:

• you are likely to have problems paying your rent, for example if you have you have problems with drugs or alcohol, or you have a serious medical condition;

• you are unlikely to pay your rent, for example if the council is aware you have consistently failed to pay the rent in the past.

Councils also have the right to pay Housing Benefit direct to a landlord if doing so will help someone to get a tenancy, or keep an existing tenancy. For example:

• for existing tenants — if the rent has been reduced to an affordable level (which is normally the LHA rate for the property);

• for new tenants — if the rent has been reduced to an affordable level or direct payments will help a tenant keep their tenancy.

Before a council decides to pay LHA direct to your landlord, it will get information from people who can help determine whether it is in your interests to do so. The council might talk to your doctor and other health professionals, support workers, probation officers and others who know about your situation.