Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is a form
of housing benefit for private tenants, which came into
effect on 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 authority's discretion, and may be made under a number of
circumstances. Contact the Benefits Team on 01695 585080 or email
housing.benefits@westlancs.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@westlancs.gov.uk
You can also:
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