LHA - how long before first payment arrives?

zaralondon

Hey everyone, been lurking for a while, there are somethings I am unsure of.

1/ When a tenant first applies for LHA from the council, how long does it take for the first payment to reach the tenant's bank account? Am I correct in assuming that in any case it won't be paid until the first full month of renting has expired...?

2/ If you are only entitled to a two bedroom rate but you find a three/four bedroom property that costs within the two bedroom rate threshold, will the council allow you to rent it? Or is a tenant only allowed two bedrooms even if he/she can find larger properties for the same/lower price? Are there any issues regarding what might be termed 'under-occupancy', or is it purely a matter of LHA thresholds.

Thanks folks - any help would be much appreciated!

Oldernotwiser

I'm afraid that I can't answer your first question but in the second case there would be no problem. As long as the property costs the same (or less) than a 2 bed property then it doesn't matter how large it is.

morocha

Hi op i hope i can help.
1* we received a letter saying that we are entitled to housing benefit last week , yesterday we checked our bank account and they had put money on it.. they will do it weekly
2* i think it depends of the size of your family and if you check their web site it says how much they will pay for it. We are a couple with 1 toddler, our house is kinda a 3 bedroom one cos one room is too small... nevertheless the rent that we pay is the lowest that we could find in the area we live in... i think the guy told us that if the place you rent is cheap for the area they give you the money anyway but not more than 20 pounds per week ( extra)

Macro_3

The first question - depends on the local authority, their current processing times, the method by which you apply, the complexity of your claim and (most importantly) whether you supply all of the information/proof needed with your application. In my LA the application could take anywhere between a few hours and a few months.

LHA is paid to the claimant 2 weeks in arrears, so it would be at least a couple of weeks. Most landlords expect payment a month in advance.

Question 2 - under occupancy is not an issue. Only LHA rate matters.

[Deleted User]

Can only go off the recent experience of my BIL and it took 9 weeks for him to get his first LHA payment,it was a straightforward application as well.

zaralondon

Thanks everyone for the quick replies.

woodbine wrote: »

Can only go off the recent experience of my BIL and it took 9 weeks for him to get his first LHA payment,it was a straightforward application as well.

This essentially means that when privately renting the tenant needs to have not only a deposit and one month rent, but also the second month's rent (if the application were to take 9 weeks). Perhaps it's advisable to apply as far in advance as possible?

(By the way, what's a BIL?)

[Deleted User]

BIL= brother in law

Jowo_2

My understanding is that a tenant can apply for an interim LHA payment (also known as payment on account) if they've submitted sufficient info for the LHA to be processed but the council haven't yet done it. This has to be applied for.

Also, if a claimant is 8 weeks in arrears, the landlord can apply to the local council to get the payment made directly to them.

fluffymovie

Hi there

In my office, we are able to process claims in 45 minutes if the customer is able to provide the claim form and proofs.
We do payment runs every 2 weeks with a 'catch up' payment once a week. As LHA is paid 2 weeks in arrears, if your landlord does want the rent in advance, you could come unstuck if you don't manage to get your claim done that fast.
With regards to applying as soon as you can, you need to have a liability to pay rent in the first place so can only claim when you have a property to claim for (sorry it that is self explanatory!) but you can put a claim in for LHA up to 13 weeks in advance. In practice however, we usually ask people to hold off and come back to us nearer the time when they have the documents we need such as a tenancy agreement.
With regard to payments on account, this is a regulation but the problem there is that if the customer has provided everything that is needed, then the authority will assess as soon as it can. Payments on account are very rare in my authority as we don't need them but if the LA you fall under has a backlog for example, they usually work on cases of high priority first (eviction proceedings underway) and then in date order.
I wish you the best of luck anyway!

Yoshua

Whats the exact list of docs you really do need?

Do you need some proof of new address? Are your bank statements in your old address all ok?

It takes ages to get your first utility bill or something, maybe send your driving licence off to change address to the new place ASAP.


fluffymovie you said it could be done in 45mins? Can you tell us everything that would make this possible.


Another thing
I sold my house and paid off a private mortgage with only a few grand left.

When I apply for LHA the form asks for last address and did you rent or own. So I say I owned but sold and paid off mortgage. I have proof from solicitor and bank statements to show I havent got much money left.

Will it make it too complicated and dificult for me?

suelees1

They have to make at least an interim payment within 14 days of having all the necessary info - this is if it's a private landlord (which is obvious if it's LHA).

http://www.ned-cab.org.uk/documents/housing_benefit.pdf