Local Housing Allowance
What is Local Housing
Allowance?
How is Local Housing Allowance
calculated?
How will my Local Housing Allowance
be paid?
Further Information
What is Local Housing Allowance?
This is the new way of calculating Housing Benefit which was
introduced on 7 April 2008.
Local Housing Allowance will only apply to new claims made after
7 April 2008 for tenants renting accommodation from a
private landlord.
- If you rent from a Housing Association or charity these changes
will not affect you.
- These changes will not apply either if you stay in the same
accommodation and do not have a break in your Benefit
How is Local Housing Allowance calculated?
Under the new rules the maximum
amount of Housing Benefit you can receive will be decided by the
number of bedrooms you require – not the number of bedrooms
you have.
The amount of Benefit you receive
may reduce depending upon your income, savings and
circumstances.
Each month we will receive information from The Rent Service on
the rates for different sized properties. The month the claim is
made will set the rate used to calculate your Housing Benefit. The
rate used to calculate maximum Benefit is normally set for twelve
months but can be changed under certain circumstances.
A new chart of rates will be received each month and claims from
April and onwards may be based on different rates.
View Local
Housing Allowance rates for July 2010 
(42K)
View Local
Housing Allowance rates for June 2010 (42K)
View Local
Housing Allowance rates for May 2010 (42K)
View Local
Housing Allowance rates for April 2010 (94K)
View Local
Housing Allowance rates for March 2010 (43K)
View Local
Housing Allowance rates for February 2010 (49K)
View
Local Housing Allowance rates for January 2010 (49K)
Local
Housing Allowance rates Archive
The rates for the Wyre Forest district, are covered by the
Worcester North Broad Market Area and the Black Country Broad
Market Area , and are the median (middle) cost of different sized
properties across this area.
There are rules for how many bedrooms you will be treated as
needing.
One room is allowed as a bedroom for each of the following
occupiers, each person only counting in the first category which
applies to them:
- A couple
- A single person aged 16 or more
- Two children of the same sex under the age of 16
- Two children (of the same or opposite sexes) under the age of
10
- A child under the age of 16
Once you know how many bedrooms you will be treated as requiring,
you can look up the rate that applies. This will be the maximum
amount of Housing Benefit you can receive anywhere within the
Worcester North area.
If you require a valuation for 6 bedrooms or more please
contact the Benefits
Section.
If you would like to calculate the number of bedrooms you
require, you can
use
the calculator on the Rent Service website
How will my Local Housing Allowance be paid?
Most claims will have the Housing Benefit paid directly to the
tenant. It will be up to you to pay your rent and if you don’t you
may be taken to court and evicted from the property.
It is hoped that we will be able to pay most people directly into a
bank or building society account. This way the tenant can arrange
to pay their rent automatically by setting up a standing order to
the landlord.
If you do not already have a bank or building society account you
may want to set one up. Banks and building societies provide
basic bank
accounts. You can get advice about opening and running a bank
account from any bank or building society. You can also get advice
from welfare organisations such as Citizens Advice .
There will be safeguards for tenants who may have difficulty paying
their rent or who we believe are unlikely to pay their rent. We
decide who this may apply to but the decision can be
challenged.
Tenants who owe more than the equivalent of eight weeks rent or who
are having deductions from other state benefits to pay off rent
arrears may have their Housing Benefit paid directly to their
landlord.
Under this new scheme it may be possible for the amount of Housing
Benefit to be up to £15 per week more than the rent. This will be
paid to tenants unless rent arrears are being paid back. However
you need to think about how much room you need and if it is decided
that you are overcrowded, this may be classed as a hazard and may
affect how much Housing Benefit we pay you.
This is a brief overview of the scheme and not a statement of your
legal rights.
Further Information
For general enquiries you can:
Phone the Worcestershire Hub on 01562 732928
Email the Benefits
Team
Read
the Local Housing Allowance Guidance Manual
Read a Guide
to Local Housing Allowance for Tenants
(1,593K)
Read a Guide
to Local Housing Allowance for Landlords and
Agents
(1,643K)
