Local Housing Allowance
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is for people on a low income renting from a private landlord. The LHA is based on the broad rental market area and the number of bedrooms the tenant is allowed (based on who lives with them), not on how much is their rent.
With LHA, your benefit will be based on:
- Who lives with you
- Which area you live in
- How much money you have coming in to the household
- What savings you have
How much will I get?
Under the Local Housing Allowance rules, we will limit the maximum amount of Housing Benefit you can get. This is called the standard Local Housing Allowance and has been calculated by a rent officer. Ryedale District Council has two sets of LHA rates, Scarborough and York.
Local housing allowance rates April 2019 - March 2020 (PDF, 1 page, 37kb)
The Local Housing Allowance is based on rent prices for the area you live in and the number of rooms Housing Benefit rules say are needed for your household. The Rent Service reviews rents and uses this information to establish an LHA rate for the different types of accommodation and sends us details of these rates. We apply the appropriate rate to all claims we receive in that month. This may not be the same number of rooms you are actually living in. You may find the amount of Housing Benefit you are entitled to won't cover all your rent. If this is the case, you may have to make up the difference out of any other income you have, or find cheaper accommodation.
Under the new scheme you can work out the number of bedrooms required by your household and then look up your LHA rate in the download tables or you can find out your Local Housing Allowance on the GOV.UK website.
LHA is the maximum amount that you can receive and may reduce depending on your income, savings and circumstances.
Please note:
If you are single and under 35 years old and do not have a dependant or non-dependant living with you as part of your household, you will only be entitled to the shared room rate. Single claimants aged 35 years old and over, care leavers under 22 years old and childless couples will qualify for the one bedroom rate of LHA, but only if they have either exclusive use of two or more rooms, or exclusive use of one room, a bathroom, a toilet, and a kitchen or facilities for cooking.
Local Housing Allowance review of entitlement
Housing Benefit claimants whose benefit entitlement is assessed subject to Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rules will no longer have their entitlement reviewed on the anniversary of their claim.
The LHA rate for all claims will be reviewed on 1 April each year or the first Monday following this date, if rent is charged weekly.
Instead of being linked to local rent levels the LHA rates will be increased by the inflation amount of the Consumer Price Index (CPI). Any benefit claims will be automatically re-assessed at the appropriate time. If you have a change in your circumstances you must let us know as soon as possible.
If you have any more queries, please submit an Enquiry Form.
