Working out the Local
Housing Allowance
Important information
Do you have a tenant aged 25 to 34 who lives alone or are you
thinking of renting private accommodation to a tenant aged 25 to
34?
The government is making a change to the way Housing Benefit is
calculated for single people aged 25 to 34, living alone and
renting private accommodation.
Please
read about this important change to Housing Benefit, which
could affect your tenant from 1st January 2012.
The information on this page is based on the current Housing
Benefit rules.
Which LHA rate will apply?
The LHA is based on the number of bedrooms needed by
the claimant and people who live with them.
We allow one bedroom for each of the following:
- A couple
- A single adult or young person aged 16 or over
- Two children of the same sex aged 10 to 15
- Two children of either sex aged under 10
- Any other child
For example, a couple with a son aged 6 and daughter aged 4
needs a 2-bedroom property (1 for the couple and 1 for the
children).
LHA and under-25s
People under 25 usually only get the shared-room rate of LHA. This
applies whether they are single or in a couple, but it will not
apply if they:
- are severely disabled; or
- have children or other people (non-dependants) living with
them.
Single people or couples with no-one else living with
them
People aged 25 or more, with no children or non-dependants, will
get the one-bedroom LHA if they already live in a one-bedroom
property. But if they have exclusive use of only one room and share
the rest of their accommodation, they will only get the shared-room
LHA.
LHA and joint tenants
The LHA rate for joint tenants will depend on their
circumstances:
- People with one room will get the shared-room rate
- People with exclusive use of more than one room will get the
one-bedroom rate (if they are not affected by the rules for
under-25s)
- People with children or non-dependants will get the LHA for the
number of bedrooms they need
See the current Local Housing Allowance rates here