Local Housing Allowance information for
landlords
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is a new form of housing benefit for
private tenants, which comes into effect from 7 April 2008. The
amount of money a tenant receives is means tested and based on
location and number of people living together. Payment is made to
the tenant, who then pays the landlord.
How LHA affects landlords
The only change for most landlords is that LHA will be paid to the
tenant, and the tenant is responsible for paying their rent to the
landlord. You'll be affected by LHA if you have private tenants who
are awarded housing benefit after 7 April 2008. The exceptions to
this are:
- council tenants
- tenancies registered with social landlords
- protected cases, such as supported housing provided by certain
local authorities, social landlords, charities and voluntary
organisations
- tenancies which are excluded from current rent
restrictions
- tenancies in caravans, houseboats, and hostels
- tenancies where the rent officer decides that a substantial
part of the rent is for board and attendance such as hotel
accommodation
Rent payment problems
Safeguards will be put in place to manage cases where a tenant
can't or won't pay their rent. Payments to landlords are made at
the authorities discretion, and may be made under a number of
circumstances. Contact the Benefits Team on 01695 585080 or email
housing.benefits@westlancsdc.gov.uk
for more details.
How to work out which LHA your tenant is entitled
to
The LHA rate your tenant receives depends on the number of people
in the household and how many bedrooms they need - not the amount
of rent paid.
You can check how many rooms a tenant is entitled to on the
Rent Service (external
link) website. The LHA rates are set by an independent rent
officer and are based on local rents, so are set specifically for
the local area.
What information is available about a tenant's
claim
We can only give you information about your tenant if they have
given us written permission to do so. With permission, we can
say:
- if they have claimed LHA
- if we have made a decision about their claim
- if we have made a payment to the tenant
- if we need more information for their claim to be
processed
At no point can we tell you their personal household
circumstances or financial circumstances. Tenants can withdraw
their permission for us to share information with you at any time
during their claim.
Contact us
For more information, contact the Benefits team on 01695 585080 or
email housing.benefits@westlancsdc.gov.uk
You can also:
> Visit the Department for
Work and Pensions' Frequently Asked Questions (external
link)
> Contact Lancashire
Welfare Rights (external link)
Related information
> Housing and council tax benefits
> Benefits
calculator
>
DirectGov: LHA (external link)
>
DirectGov: on a low income? (external link)
> Landlords
forum - Questions and Answers
> A Rough Guide to LHA
> Landlords Newsletter
> Landlords Newsletter -
Issue 2
> Landlords Newsletter Update - Aug
08
> Landlords LHA guidance
notes