Moving from Subsidised Private Let, to More Expensive Private Let.

stone7

Please excuse me, but I'm not well up on the terminology or acronyms on this subject.

My son, his partner and their daughter are currently in a private rental property for which they receive a housing benefit contribution. They want to move to a different private rental property in the same borough that is ever so slightly more expensive. Is there an issue with them upgrading and do they need to inform any of the authorities prior to the move?

TIA.

Benji

To answer your question simply - there they will need to notify the council that they are moving, as they will need to prove to the council that they have a liability to pay rent at the new address.

Unfortunately, such a move is likely to result in a DROP in their LHA. The reason for this is because all LHA entitlements dropped last April, but existing claims were protected by transitional relief - ie their money is protected for (in sone cases) as much as 18 months. Unfortunately, TR only applies (iirc) until their claim is reassessed, and their claim will be reassessed as a result of this move.