LHA: information for landlords

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 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
· Contact Lancashire Welfare Rights