Local Housing Allowance - Print version

Local Housing Allowance rates

Anyone who rents their home from a private landlord and makes a successful claim for housing benefit will have their benefit worked out using the Local Housing Allowance rates.

Local Housing Allowance is a way of working out Housing Benefit for private tenants. The Local Housing Allowance rate is set by the government and provides the "maximum allowance" for households. From 1 April 2024 the Local Housing Allowance Rates have been increased.

The maximum rate is four bedrooms, even if a household would be entitled to more than four bedrooms.

If the rent is less than the Housing Benefit, the maximum Housing Benefit will be the same as the rent charged.

Information for landlords

Who can get Local Housing Allowance?

Private tenants who live in the Coventry area, have a low income and pay rent for a property to a private landlord may be able to claim Local Housing Allowance (LHA) through a Housing Benefit claim, or as part of their Universal Credit claim whichever is appropriate.

Tenants cannot claim if they have savings of over £16,000, unless they receive the guarantee credit of pension credit. There are special rules for full time students and people who have lived abroad.

How much Local Housing Allowance will my tenant get?

The LHA amount is based on the number of bedrooms the household needs, not the number of rooms in the property. The LHA rates are set each April by the government.

How many bedrooms are allowed?

Tenants are allowed one bedroom for:

• each adult couple
• any other adult (aged 16 or over)
• any two children under 10
• any two children of the same sex under 16
• or for any other child.

Family B for example are allowed two bedrooms. If they rent a property with three bedrooms, their benefit will still be worked out using the two bedroom Housing Benefit.

Single people aged 35 years and over and couples with no children

Single people aged 35 years and over or a couple with no children can get the one bedroom LHA rate but only if they rent a property that has its own bathroom/toilet and kitchen. If the property is not self contained they will be entitled to the shared accommodation LHA rate only.

Single people under 35

A single person under 35 will get the shared rate of LHA no matter what size of property they rent.

Formerly homeless

Single tenants aged between 25 and 34 who have been homeless at any time for more than three months and who live in self-contained accommodation may be able to get the one-bedroom LHA rate - tenants who think that this may apply to them should contact us.

Single people leaving care and those who are severely disabled

Single care leavers under 22 and people who are severely disabled will get the one-bedroom self-contained rate, regardless of the type of accommodation occupied.

Joint tenants

Joint tenants are people who are not a couple but share a property and are named on the tenancy agreement. Joint tenants will get the LHA rate for their own household not including the family of the other joint tenants.

Payments of Housing Benefit

For tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit from the Council, payments will normally be made direct to the tenant every two weeks in arrears.

Tenants must make arrangements with you how to pay the rent. Most people find that the best way is for us to pay the Housing Benefit directly into their bank or building society account. They can then set up a standing order or direct debit to pay you every four weeks.

Safeguards

Some people may have difficulty getting the Housing Benefit and paying their rent. Payments of Housing Benefit can be made direct to a landlord if:

• we consider that a tenant is unlikely to pay their rent
• we think that a tenant cannot handle their own affairs
• where a tenant is more than eight weeks in arrears with their rent.

If your tenant owes you more than eight weeks' worth of rent or you feel that your tenant will not pay your rent you must provide either a written statement telling us how the arrears have built up or a letter explaining why you believe that your tenant will not pay their rent.

We will also make payment direct to the landlord where this will help the customer in securing or retaining a tenancy. This is intended to provide landlords with an incentive to reduce rents to a level that is affordable to customers. If your tenant can no longer meet the agreed rent because of the government cuts to Housing Benefit and you agree to reduce the rent to a level that your tenant can afford in return for direct payment of Housing Benefit let us know. Your tenant must agree to direct payment and you must have reduced the rent to a level that your tenant can afford.

Payments to landlords can only be made four weekly in arrears. We are not able to pay landlords fortnightly.

Direct payments - application for payments of Local Housing Allowance to your landlord

Local Housing Allowance is a rent scheme for people living in private rented accommodation. 

Local Housing Allowance is usually paid to the person making the claim for Housing Benefit, or Housing Costs within Universal Credit; they cannot simply ask for payment to be made to their landlord to cover their rent. There are circumstances where we must pay the landlord the Local Housing Allowance and these are:

• The claimant is eight full weeks in arrears with their rent
• The claimant is having deductions made from their Income Support or Job Seekers' Allowance to pay for rent arrears

We can also make a decision to pay the Local Housing Allowance to the landlord where we think the person is unlikely or unable to pay their rent (this could be because they are vulnerable or have severe financial difficulties) or where the landlord has reduced the rent to help a claimant to secure/retain their tenancy.

What do we mean by unlikely to pay the rent?

• A claimant who has rent arrears and has consistently failed to pay 
• A claimant who has previously left a property without paying rent

What do we mean by financial difficulties?

• Claimants who are unable to open a bank or building society account 
• Claimants with severe debt problems 
• Claimants who are bankrupt

What do we mean by vulnerable?

By vulnerable we mean someone who may have difficulty managing his or her money. This may include:

• People with medical conditions
• People with learning difficulties
• People with physical disabilities
• People who are mentally ill
• Illiteracy or an inability to speak, read or write English
• A person with alcohol/substance/gambling addiction
• A person receiving help from a homeless charity
• A person who is housebound or lives alone with no support

There may also be other reasons why the claimant is considered vulnerable.

What evidence is needed?

In all cases written evidence will be needed and will depend upon the claimant's circumstances.
People who can provide evidence include:

• Family and friends of the claimant
• The landlord
• Welfare groups
• Care workers
• Money and debt advisers
• Social Services
• GP
• Probation officers
• JobCentre Plus
• The Pension Service
• Universal Credit Service
• Support workers
• Community nurses
• Hospital staff
• Court staff

This list is not exhaustive and we will require signed, written permission from the claimant to contact third parties on their behalf.

Making a decision

Once we have collected evidence we will decide as quickly as possible whether payment of Local Housing Allowance should be made to the landlord or the claimant.

We may pay Local Housing Allowance to the landlord while we are making our decision. We will tell the claimant if they are considered vulnerable. We will also write to the claimant or to someone acting for them and explain our decision.

Reviewing a decision

Where a decision is made to pay the landlord we will set a date to have another look at the situation and see if circumstances have changed.

Appeals

If the claimant or landlord disagrees with our decision they can appeal. The rules for this are the same as for Housing Benefit.

Self service for landlords

What is Landlord Self-Service?

Self-service is an online tool to help landlords get information about their tenants' benefit payments. This only happens when tenants have given us permission to pay their landlord housing benefit directly. The system is quick and easy to use and gives current and past information. 

Why do we provide this service?

The way many customers wish to deal with the Council has changed and we need to react to this. Landlords can now get landlord information 24 hours a day at a time that suits them as long as they have access to a computer.

How to sign up?

Signing up to Connect (the self service system) is both quick and simple. All you need to do is register [/connectlandlords]. You will then be sent an e-mail to authorise your registration. The link on the e-mail, which will be from supportandcontrol@coventry.gov.uk [mailto:supportandcontrol@coventry.gov.uk], will take you to a web page where you will need to register as a landlord. 

You will need your landlord reference, which is stated on every payment schedule sent out to you from the Council, and your PIN, which you may need to apply for on the website if you haven't already received one from us.

If you are struggling to sign up then you can follow this easy step by step guide. [/downloads/download/3219/how_to_register_for_self_service]