Housing Benefit question ?.

incubus72

I have been offered a property for £560 a month which is inclusive of all bills. The local housing allowance rate for the area would cover £460 a month but would this figure then be reduced due to the fact that utilities etc are included ?. I am currently in receipt of income based J.S.A so would have to find the extra £100 on top of L.H.A myself but fear that I wouldn't be able to do so if the council were to pay less in L.H.A. Any advice from someone who knows the rules regarding housing benefit and inclusive bills would be appreciated. Thanks.

afc80

LHA rules differ from other types of Housing Benefit in relation to ineligible services.

For the purposes of LHA your full rent and service charge is used in the calculation of your Benefit.

(ie) if you rent is £500 and you have service charges of £60 then £560 is used.

Of course you wont get any more that your applicable LHA rate anyway.

If your LHA rate is £600pcm, then you would get £560 plus an excess up to £15 per week.

If your LHA rate is £460 pcm for example then that is what you get.



The government are about to abolish the excess payment and they are also about to change the criteria for setting the different LHA rates, this will reduce the applicable room rates and therefore reduce the Housing Benefit paid out to customers.

incubus72

afc80 wrote: »

LHA rules differ from other types of Housing Benefit in relation to ineligible services.

For the purposes of LHA your full rent and service charge is used in the calculation of your Benefit.

(ie) if you rent is £500 and you have service charges of £60 then £560 is used.

Of course you wont get any more that your applicable LHA rate anyway.

If your LHA rate is £600pcm, then you would get £560 plus an excess up to £15 per week.

If your LHA rate is £460 pcm for example then that is what you get.



The government are about to abolish the excess payment and they are also about to change the criteria for setting the different LHA rates, this will reduce the applicable room rates and therefore reduce the Housing Benefit paid out to customers.

Thanks for the advice AFC.

The rent was originally due to be £700 p.c.m inclusive of alls bills but having explained to the landlord I was going to be in receipt of L.H.A which was only £460 a month he asked how much I would be able to pay in total,taking into account water rates,council tx,electricity,gas etc I thought that about £25 a week extra would be reasonable for a person on benefit so I told him that I would be able to pay £560 a month and he was more than happy to accept that.

My worry is that because all household bills are included in the rent that the council would reduce the amount of L.H.A that I was then entitled to from £460 to a lower amount which would then mean I would have to find more than my own pocket.

afc80

They wont reduce it. If your LHA rate is £460 that is what you will get, you have no need to worry.

incubus72

afc80 wrote: »

They wont reduce it. If your LHA rate is £460 that is what you will get, you have no need to worry.

Thanks mate,much appreciated . Good luck for this season btw