Local Housing Allowance (LHA)

Description

They’ll remain a qualifying young person until 31 August following their 19th birthday if they’re in full-time non-advanced education – for example, at school or college. The following Local Housing Allowance changes affect customers whose Housing Benefit is calculated from the LHA. Will remain the same until the following April. If you have to claim Council Tax Reduction, you might want to claim Housing Benefit at the same time. Your Universal Credit will be reduced by the same amount you get from certain types of income. If the DWP keep your claim open, you should still tell them when your income has gone down. This will end your Universal Credit claim – the Jobcentre will tell you if this happens. Appeals must be made in writing within one month of the date of our decision. Please visit our Appeals page for further information. Visit our change of circumstances page for more details on what you need to report to us. If the rent you pay is less than the weekly LHA rate, you will receive no more than the amount you need to pay for your rent. It’s not a separate benefit but it affects how much help you get with rent.
LHA does not apply to certain tenancy types, for example Housing Associations (Registered Social Landlords). We can pay your Housing Benefit directly to your landlord if it will help you to get or keep your tenancy. For more information see date of your tenancy and Local Housing Allowance. There have been several changes to LHA rules since that date. Housing Benefit (HB) under the LHA rules is normally paid directly to the claimant. If you’re unsure what the effect claiming Universal Credit will have on someone else’s benefit claim, talk to an adviser. In 2020/21 the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates in Northern Ireland have been increased to provide additional financial support for private tenants in receipt of Housing Benefit or the housing costs element of Universal Credit. Ask the DWP or council to look at your benefit again if you’re affected by this change. You can then use the Local Housing Allowance calculator to find out which rate applies to you. You can choose accommodation, knowing how much rent we will use to work out your benefit, from the LHA rates set by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA). Most people now have to claim Universal Credit for help with their rent. Under Council Tax rules, pensioners have a prescribed Council Tax Support scheme which gives them a degree of protection when claiming for help to pay their Council Tax.
As of February 2019, there were 20 million people claiming benefits of some sort. If you were already claiming Universal Credit it depends on the 12 months before the assessment period in which you stopped earning. When the Jobcentre tell you your claim is ending, check if your income might go down in the next 5 months. You’ll usually only get an additional payment for 3 or more children if they were born before 6 April 2017. You can check the exceptions. The person you’re caring for won’t be eligible for the SDP while you’re getting the carer element of Universal Credit. If Magnus is in a grace period, the Benefit Cap – https://search.usa.gov/search?affiliate=usagov&query=Benefit%20Cap won’t apply for 9 months starting on 5 October 2020. Bianca’s earnings went down to £500 a month in February 2021. She claimed Universal Credit on 13 May 2021. She wants to know if the Benefit Cap applies to her. The DWP should ask you to report your earnings from the last 12 months when you apply for Universal Credit to get the grace period. The 3 months does not have to be continuous. You’ll need to show that you have ‘limited capability for work’ (LCW) or ‘limited capability for work-related activity’ (LCWRA). Ask the DWP or the council looking for private landlords – https://www.leaseforlife.co.uk/ to look at your benefit again if you’re affected by this change.
For example, you’ll get both elements if you’re eligible for the sick or disability element and your partner is eligible for the carer element. Unless you have a joint claim, you can’t get both the carer element and the element for sickness or disability – you’ll get whichever is higher. You’ll get less Universal Credit if you get money from work or other places, or if you have more than £6,000 in savings. You won’t normally get extra money if you have LCW. If you do not already have one, you may want to set up a bank account. If your claim ends because your income increased, you might be able to get Universal Credit again if your income goes down. We provide two schemes that help people who are on a low income pay their rent and Council Tax. When we work out your Housing Benefit, the amount you get can never be more than your rent. The LHA rate used to assess Housing Benefit (HB) depends on the number of bedrooms needed by the claimant and family members who live with them. How many bedrooms your require on the Valuation Office website. For more information on the number of rooms