Working out your Local Housing Allowance

 

Local Housing Allowance is a new way of working out new claims for Housing Benefit for tenants renting accommodation from a private landlord. It also affects tenants already getting Housing Benefit who move into accommodation rented from a private landlord. Local Housing Allowance is being introduced on 7 April 2008. If you live in council accommodation or other social housing, Local Housing Allowance will not affect you

 

To work out how much benefit you might get you need to:

 

1.      Work out how many bedrooms you are entitled to and which Local Housing Allowance rate applies to you – this is shown below

 

2.      Check the Local Housing Allowance rates for the area you want to live in, which you can get from us on any of the contact details at the end of this leaflet

 

3.      Find out if you can get the full amount of benefit. The amount of benefit you can get may be affected by:

  • any money you have coming in
  • any savings you have
  • how much your rent is
  • if we expect anyone living with you to pay towards your rent
  • if you share paying the rent with someone else who is not your partner

For more information about this, please get in touch with us at the address below.

 

How many bedrooms am I entitled to?

The number of people who live with you is used to work out how many bedrooms you are entitled to. We do not count other rooms such as a living room, kitchen or bathroom.

 

The number of bedrooms you are entitled to is then used to work out which Local Housing Allowance rate usually applies to you. In some cases, there are some more rules – these are looked at below.

 

You can use the following information as a guide to work out how many bedrooms you are entitled to.

 

You are entitled to one bedroom for:

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

Tom and Jane

Tom and Jane are a couple who have a child, Ben, who is nine years old.

 

They are entitled to one bedroom for themselves and one for Ben. This means any benefit they are entitled to will be based on the Local Housing Allowance rate for two bedrooms.

 

Susan

Susan is a single mother who has three children, Tom, who is fourteen, Judy, who is eleven and Raymond, who is six.

 

Susan is entitled to one bedroom for herself, one bedroom for Judy and one bedroom for Tom and Raymond to share. This means any benefit they are entitled to will be based on the Local Housing Allowance rate for three bedrooms.

 

Lisa and Matt

Lisa and Matt are a couple who have five children, Shaun, who is seventeen, Graham, who is fifteen, Laura, who is twelve, Millie, who is nine and Jessica, who is six.

 

They are entitled to one bedroom for themselves, one bedroom for Shaun, one bedroom for Laura and Millie to share, one bedroom for Graham and one bedroom for Jessica. This means any benefit they are entitled to will be based on the Local Housing Allowance rate for five bedrooms.

 

What else might affect the Local Housing Allowance rate?

In some cases extra rules apply.  For clarification where we refer to a self-contained property we mean where you have your own room plus your own:

  • bathroom
  • toilet; and
  • kitchen (or facilities to cook with)

These extra rules apply if you are:

  • A Couple and you do not live with any dependants

Then your rent will be based on the one bedroom Local Housing Allowance rate if you live in:

  • A self-contained property
  • Shared accommodation but have two or more rooms (bedrooms and living rooms) that no-one else can use

If you are a couple and do not live with any dependants, your benefit will be based on Local Housing Allowance shared room rate if you live in shared accommodation.

  • Aged 25 or over, single and do not live with any dependants

Then your rent will be based on the one bedroom Local Housing Allowance rate if you live in:

  • A self-contained property
  • Shared accommodation but have two or more rooms (bedrooms and living rooms) that no-one else can use

If you live in shared accommodation and you don’t have two or more rooms that no-one else can use then your benefit will be based on Local Housing Allowance shared room rate.

  • Under 25, single and do not live with any dependants

You can only get the shared room rate of Local Housing Allowance.

  • Severely disabled or live with a severely disabled partner and have no dependant children

Your benefit will be based on the one bedroom Local Housing Allowance rate.

 

Severely disabled means that you or your partner are in receipt of middle or high rate care component of Disability Living Allowance or Attendance Allowance and no-one is receiving Carer’s Allowance for you or your partner.

  • A care leaver under 22, or live with care leaver under 22 who is your partner and have no dependent children.

By care leaver we mean someone who was in council care after the age of 15.

 

In these cases then your benefit will be based on the one bedroom rate of Local Housing Allowance

  • Joint tenants

If you are a joint tenant the amount you get will be based solely on your family who live with you, plus any non-dependants, sub-tenants or borders.

 

For example if you are a joint tenant and you are under 25, then the under 25 rules will apply.  If you are a joint tenant and you have a non-dependant then you will be entitled to the two bedroom rate. 

 

If however you are a joint tenant and the non-dependant is part of yours and the joint tenants family for example because you are brothers and your father lives you, then both of you would be entitled to the two bedroom rate.

  • Non-dependants

If you claim benefit you can only get it for yourself and your family. If you share a property with someone who is not part of your family, your benefit may be reduced. This is because we may expect them to pay towards your rent.

 

For more information about this, please get in touch with us at the address below.

 

What if my rent is not the same as the Local Housing Allowance rate that applies to me?

If your rent is up to £15 lower than the Local Housing Allowance rate that applies to you, any benefit you might get will still be based on this rate. For example, if your rent is £90 and the Local Housing Allowance is £100, the maximum amount of benefit we could pay you would be £100.

 

If your rent is more than £15 less than the Local Housing Allowance rate that applies to you, any benefit you might get will be based on the amount of your rent plus £15. For example, if your rent is £60 and the Local Housing Allowance is £100 the maximum amount of benefit we could pay you would be £75.

 

Further information

If you want more information:

  • Phone your Housing Benefit department on 01446 709244
  • Visit your Housing Benefit department at Civic Offices, Holton Road, Barry, CF63 4RU
  • Email us privatebenefits@valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

Remember that this leaflet is a guide only. It is not meant to say exactly what your legal rights are. While we have tried to make sure that the information in this leaflet is correct at the date shown on the cover, it is possible that there may be incorrect information or some ideas may be oversimplified. Also, please remember that the information in this leaflet is likely to become less accurate over time because of changes to the law.