LHA information for landlords

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is a form of housing benefit for private tenants. 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.

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 for more information. Our contact details are in the contact panel on the right of this page.

How to work out which LHA rate 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.