Private sector Rent set higher than LHA

bobbieg

Hi ya,

I'm currently in a private sector lease after being in a hostel for 6 months. My councils rules that I have to stay here for 2 years before I am placed in the higher home seekers band allowing me to bid on a permanent property.
However, the rent is set at £25 per week higher than the LHA and although I do work, I feel as if they are setting me up for a fall.
Why do they set the rent higher?
Thanks
C x

Caz3121

the LHA rates represent the lowest 30% of rents for the area. There will be 70% of the rental properties that will have a higher rent than the LHA

Murphybear

It doesn't work like that I'm afraid. Private rentals are set at the going rate, whatever that is. LHA rates are then set so that ~30% of properties are affordable. It used to be 50%. Unfortunately when rents started rising I believe the Gov stopped the LHA rates rising to keep up so in some areas there are hardly any properties within the LHA remit. This means that more and more tenants have to pay some of the rent themselves.

Whether this is a good or bad thing depends on whether you are a tenant or not

TELLIT01

It's a difficult problem. If the LHA rate was reviewed every year to tie in with average private sector rents, the private rents would just keep escalating as they would know that the money was always there. By putting a brake on the LHA figure the theory is that it will slow the increase in private rents.
Note I do say "theory".

bobbieg

Thank you for your replies.

Yes that does make sense to stop the rent rising.

My property is a council private rent though, surely it would make sense for them to keep it within the LHA. Especially so for those that don't work who have to find the £25 a week from their benefits.

HappyMJ

bobbieg wrote: »

Thank you for your replies.

Yes that does make sense to stop the rent rising.

My property is a council private rent though, surely it would make sense for them to keep it within the LHA. Especially so for those that don't work who have to find the £25 a week from their benefits.

Not necessarily.

The property you live in isn't a property which is a social property. It's held and let on commercial terms and therefore let at the market rate. That rate is £25 above the LHA rate for your area.

We also pay a little above the LHA rate (£6/week) for our area however, the property we live in comes with a cooker, a washing machine, a fridge and a freezer. You will not find that in a property let on a secure tenancy with a housing association or council.

If we were in a housing association property it would cost us more each week as we would have to rent those appliances which I am sure cost more than £6 per week.

What else does your property come with? Ours also come with carpet. Trent and Dove (our local housing association) properties do not come with carpet.

Service charges in our property are included in the rent which is covered by housing benefit. If this were a local association property we would have to pay the service charges from other benefits instead.

Alter_ego

Maybe it also helps to give a sense of doing something for yourself rather than relying on benefits.

bobbieg

Hi HappyMJ, my property doesn't include anything, I had to buy my own carpets and washing machine, cooker etc. The property is also of poor standard for the amount of rent charged, compared to equal property's on the market.
There are several repair matters outstanding that yes I know it's the councils duty to repair, however the kitchen which is over 30 years old needs replacing and I don't want my life turned upside down for a week whilst they fit a new kitchen, as I'm hoping to only be there another year at most. The kitchen drawers were held together with tape before we moved in and there's an obvious leak from a water pipe in the bedroom cupboard which has caused the ceiling to go black with damp and also causes mould to grow on my clothes in my wardrobe. This leak was apparent and cupboard mouldy before we moved in, however they still placed us there.

Alterego I see what youre saying but in the same sense it is actually keeping me from returning to full time work as it doesn't work out financially once I've covered rent and childcare.

I'm struggling at the moment and like I say I feel as if we are being kept in that Private Sector Lease for 2 years as they know most people will struggle and find alternative accomodation and therefore drop off of the housing register.
Once they are able to place us in a permanent council accomodation the rent is significantly reduced and I would be able to afford to pat the rent myself whilst working full time.
I am a single parent to 3 children and work for NHS so I'm not a slacker.

HappyMJ

bobbieg wrote: »

Hi HappyMJ, my property doesn't include anything, I had to buy my own carpets and washing machine, cooker etc. The property is also of poor standard for the amount of rent charged, compared to equal property's on the market.
There are several repair matters outstanding that yes I know it's the councils duty to repair, however the kitchen which is over 30 years old needs replacing and I don't want my life turned upside down for a week whilst they fit a new kitchen, as I'm hoping to only be there another year at most. The kitchen drawers were held together with tape before we moved in and there's an obvious leak from a water pipe in the bedroom cupboard which has caused the ceiling to go black with damp and also causes mould to grow on my clothes in my wardrobe. This leak was apparent and cupboard mouldy before we moved in, however they still placed us there.

Alterego I see what youre saying but in the same sense it is actually keeping me from returning to full time work as it doesn't work out financially once I've covered rent and childcare.

I'm struggling at the moment and like I say I feel as if we are being kept in that Private Sector Lease for 2 years as they know most people will struggle and find alternative accomodation and therefore drop off of the housing register.
Once they are able to place us in a permanent council accomodation the rent is significantly reduced and I would be able to afford to pat the rent myself whilst working full time.
I am a single parent to 3 children and work for NHS so I'm not a slacker.

Why are you still living in it?

Move out...somewhere else, anywhere else.

If there are equal properties of a better standard that charge the same rent in the private rental market then move into one of them.

Even though it's a council owned property you can still report your landlord (the council) to the environmental health department of your council to sort out the issues of damp, mould etc. If it's unsafe to live in you could find yourself rehoused again.

You could be waiting for years for a housing association property to become available. You will I'm sure be bidding for several properties each week. Is it really worth it?

pmlindyloo

I am struggling to understand the mix of it being a privately rented property and the council is responsible for the repairs?

Is this a privately rented property that the council found for you and moved you from the hostel?

Who actually is your landlord? (Look on you tenancy agreement)

If the council found you this privately property as part of their homeless policy then I am very surprised that the rent is more than the LHA.

I note that you work. Is the rent actually higher then the LHA or are you having to pay the £25 per week because you are working? (ie. your HB has been reduced because of your income.)

bobbieg

The house is owned by a private landlord but rented to the council who rent it to me, so the council are named as my landlord on the tenancy agreement. It is a property they put us in to discharge their responsibility to us when we were homeless.

The rent is actually £25 per week higher than the LHA, this is before any benefit is taken into consideration. Rent is £258 per week and LHA is £233.