LHA and rent increase

tacpot12

I think they have either been misinformed, or they haven't told the DWP the correct information, or they don't understand what the DWP said back to them and so are not able to relate the information to you in a way that makes sense.

Check that you have understood what the correct LHA rate is for your tenant - it can change depending on various personal circumstances. it might make sense to look this up together with the tenant if they are prepared to do so. You can use this tool: Search for Local Housing Allowance rates by postcode or local authority : DirectGov - LHA Rates (voa.gov.uk)  - remember that the tool tells you a weekly amount, so this has to be multipled by 52.14 and divided by 12 to give you the monthly rent that UC will pay per assessment period. 

You can also try using a Benefits Calculator such as the one at EntitledTo.co.uk. You can assume the tenant isn't working as earnings don't affect the LHA Rate (but will affect what amount of UC the tenant receives to cover her living costs [excluding rent]) and enter your new rent amount as as their monthly rent and then look at the Universal Credit Calculation to see if they will cover that level of rent that you have proposed to charge. 

This shelter Webpage might also help you understand the situation better: Local housing allowance (LHA) for private renters - Shelter England

poppy12345

peteuk said:

Question for my own knowledge…

Private rented get paid the amount of rent and not the LHA level.
Council/housing associates renting gets paid the LHA level.

No, it's the other way round. Private rental refers to LHA. 

itsthelittlethings

poppy12345 said:

peteuk said:

Question for my own knowledge…

Private rented get paid the amount of rent and not the LHA level.
Council/housing associates renting gets paid the LHA level.

No, it's the other way round. Private rental refers to LHA. 

Private rental gets the amount of rent, capped at the LHA. Social rent get the rent amount, no matter what.

poppy12345

As she's a single person if she's under 35 then she'll only be entitled to the shared rate of LHA, unless she's claiming either daily living PIP/ADP or mid/high rate care DLA and then she'll be entitled to the 1 bedroom rate. 

poppy12345

itsthelittlethings said:

poppy12345 said:

peteuk said:

Question for my own knowledge…

Private rented get paid the amount of rent and not the LHA level.
Council/housing associates renting gets paid the LHA level.

No, it's the other way round. Private rental refers to LHA. 

Private rental gets the amount of rent, capped at the LHA. Social rent get the rent amount, no matter what.

Very often LHA doesn't cover the whole rent when privately renting. Social housing is full rent unless you have spare bedrooms. 

Spoonie_Turtle

Voyager2002 said:

Jyana said:

I may be wrong, but as her rent was just over the LHA amount won't she already be receiving the higher amount of LHA in her UC every month since it went up in April?

UC isn't my area of expertise, but it may depend on how much rent above the LHA she is responsible for that could now be the cause of any issues. Could that difference play into their reasoning for a second increase? Though I am really not sure how that relates to a date in February. 

Her rent was BELOW the LHA level. I tried to increase it up to the level specified by LHA.

And she said that "Housing Benefit" were talking about referring it to the rent officer... should she have contacted UC rather than her council's Housing people about this matter?

I wonder if part of the problem here is contacting UC about potential future changes is always useless.  They won't give decisions in advance and any advice you get from someone who doesn't make the decisions can be hit or miss as to whether it's anywhere near accurate.

[A lot of people claim UC and still refer to the housing element as Housing Benefit, old habits die hard.]

Although if she really did contact the council, the Housing Benefit team, then that would be the main problem because HB and UC have different rules.


What might help is if you get your tenant to post on here herself to ask what happens if the landlord increases rent to the LHA level.  Then she can receive the advice for herself and we can even provide sources to back it up and for reassurance.

Jyana

Voyager2002 said:

Jyana said:

I may be wrong, but as her rent was just over the LHA amount won't she already be receiving the higher amount of LHA in her UC every month since it went up in April?

UC isn't my area of expertise, but it may depend on how much rent above the LHA she is responsible for that could now be the cause of any issues. Could that difference play into their reasoning for a second increase? Though I am really not sure how that relates to a date in February. 

Her rent was BELOW the LHA level. I tried to increase it up to the level specified by LHA.

And she said that "Housing Benefit" were talking about referring it to the rent officer... should she have contacted UC rather than her council's Housing people about this matter?

Apologies for misunderstanding. When you mentioned that she has a "shortfall that she has to cover each month" in your OP I assumed that she was topping up an amount over the LHA in order to pay the full rent charged.

Many people confuse the two, and still refer to the Housing Suppliment they receive from UC as Housing Benefit, so it may be an idea to confirm with her what she means by that. Housing Benefit is a legacy benefit as some of the others have said. A few people still claim it but if she is really on UC then chances are she is not, so yes, the local council who deal with Housing Benefit will be of no help to her as it is the DWP who will be paying her rent allowance through her UC.

nicx83

Ok, first thing is are sure your tenant receives uc and housing costs? 

LHA is paid to tenants in the private rented sector who claimed housing benefit on or after 7 April 2008. If the tenancy was prior to this and they have been claiming help with their rent prior to this date then they may still be getting help with their rent in housing benefit from the local authority via the old scheme.

it sounds like your tenant is under the old scheme

Local authorities are obliged to make Rent Officer referrals every 52 weeks, and always have a current Rent Officer determination in force, but they cannot make them early. The local authorities are required to make a new referral within 3 days, or as soon as is possible, from the expiry of the previous determination

poppy12345

nicx83 said:

Ok, first thing is are sure your tenant receives uc and housing costs? 

LHA is paid to tenants in the private rented sector who claimed housing benefit on or after 7 April 2008. If the tenancy was prior to this and they have been claiming help with their rent prior to this date then they may still be getting help with their rent in housing benefit from the local authority via the old scheme.

it sounds like your tenant is under the old scheme

Local authorities are obliged to make Rent Officer referrals every 52 weeks, and always have a current Rent Officer determination in force, but they cannot make them early. The local authorities are required to make a new referral within 3 days, or as soon as is possible, from the expiry of the previous determination

I don't think those rules apply to those claiming help with the rent through UC known as housing element. Happy to be corrected. 

nicx83

Hi Poppy I am aware that these regs pre date uc. Just wanted to check the landlord is absolutely sure the tenants on uc as customers do not have to disclose this to landlords. Hence me asking the tenancy start date