Local Housing Allowance (LHA)



Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is used to work out Housing Benefit for tenants who rent privately and is also administered by local councils. How much you get is usually based on the Local Housing Allowance Limit in your area, your income and circumstances.
In 2012, the coalition government brought in measures to uprate Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) rather than the market rents in each area, severing the connection between LHA and actual rent prices. The Tory government then imposed a four-year freeze on increases in LHA until 2020, despite increasing rents (see above).


The LHAs for Bristol, for example, are:


Given the continued increase in rent prices throughout the country, this is likely to act as a further reduction to the household incomes of working families. 



If you’ve been getting Housing Benefit (HB) from before 7 April 2008, these limits only apply if you change address or have a break in your claim for HB.



The amount of HB 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 HB payments directly to them; or



• moving somewhere cheaper.