Local Housing allowance

Kimitatsu

Thanks Suelees - yes you are right it is £15. Brainis full this week with all the new stuff coming out!

teeni

This has been a pilot area for lha and it has been in place for about 2 years now.
Many landlords in this area put the rent up once they realised what the BMR was going to be for each family unit.

Well over 90 % of people on housing benefit were better off when it first came in and in the pilot areas people got tho keep all surplus money not just £15.00 as will be the case when it rolls out nationwide.

Biggest issue is the fact that it is paid directly to applicant as landlords will often refuse to take tenants who will rely on it, although the processing of claims is exceptionaly qwuickproviding the applicant sends ion all the relevant info with the form, Here it is under 2 weeks now which compared to the time it used to take to process housing benefit is brilliant.

Chrysalis

is LHA paid out based on this http://www.therentservice.gov.uk/corporate-publications/local-reference-rents/local-reference-rents-30September2007.asp ? If so the numbers involved mean I would lose out and only the very bad high crime areas in my city would be lower rent.

The local reference rents on that site for my area are about 10% lower then anything within my area.

--edit--

http://www.therentservice.gov.uk/corporate-publications/local-reference-rents/local-reference-rents-31December2007.asp

I see in the dec 2007 they have merged my area even larger to include the entire county and the reference rent has gone even lower. They have for 2 3 4 rooms barely above 1 room board rates which is shocking.

whatamess_2

Just had a look at that link, thanks Chrysalis.

Where I live there are obviously the more desirable areas and the less so. The reference rent for four rooms would not even cover the rent for the worst area!!!

lil_me

Haddn't seen the review from December so thanks for posting that, having a giggle people getting a 4 room for £112.50 PW in Central Durham, then they drop it to £100.50 for the whole of Durham. No wonder rental prices seem to be slowly coming down and there are loads sat empty at the higher prices, noone on benefits can afford them.

Chrysalis

yeah its so innacurate its funny, they seem to think it costs more to rent a room out on board then a flat.

whatamess_2

lil_me wrote: »

. No wonder rental prices seem to be slowly coming down and there are loads sat empty at the higher prices, noone on benefits can afford them.

Wish the rental prices by me would come down a bit. A half decent 4room in a decent area is going to cost me half of my monthly salary!!

kategregory

Hi there i know this may be a long shot, but i have come across a local council website that has a online calculator for the housing benifits i think it would only be for Newark and Sherwood council but worth a look!!
As i'm under this council but very useful for myself...

Hope this helps some one!!
http://www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/pp/gold/viewGold.asp?IDType=Page&ID=8495

earthmother

We got a letter from the council about this scheme this morning, so I thought I ought to have a look for some more info.

Does anyone know if these LHA figures are fixed, or are there still possible deductions for income as with HB.

We currently get HB, but not at the full rate as hubby gets IB rather than the IS and hence is apparently better off (don't know how they work that out, we actually get less, but that's another topic). Would going onto the LHA attract the same deduction?

If not, once this kicks in across the board, we could actually be a bit nearer to receiving our full rent for the first time in years, despite renting one of the cheapest properties of this type in the area.


By the way, I also think the figures on the rent service link are laughable - it reckons a 5 room property (which is what we'd be entitled to under LHA) is £121 a week. You can't get a 3/4 room for that around here.

suelees1

LHAs attract the same calculations as HB as far as I'm aware.

If you're struggling you can always apply for a Discretionary Housing Payment both now and when the LHAs are rolled out