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Local Housing Allowance

What is this?

The Welfare Reform Act received Royal Assent on 3rd May 2007, this act contained provisions for the national roll-out of Local Housing Allowance (LHA). This national implementation will commence in April 2008 following 18 established pathfinder areas.

Local Housing Allowance will replace Housing Benefit and is intended to increase choice for benefit recipients and encourage financial responsibility. The benefit will be based on an average local rent for the locality and the circumstances of the applicant not a particular property. Recipients will then be able to ‘shop’ around for suitable accommodation keeping up to £15 per week where their rent is lower than their Local Housing Allowance. The benefit recipient will receive their LHA from the local authority, it then being their responsibility to pay their rent.

Members wishing to check the LHA rates for the area their rental property is in should refer to the appropriate section of the NLA Landlord Library website at www.nlalandlordlibrary.org.uk.

The NLA's position

The NLA welcomes the intention to simplify the housing benefit system as well as the drive to provide tenants with greater choice and responsibility. The plans are laudable and highly desirable in many ways. Unfortunately we have some concerns as to the way in which local authorities will choose to implement the legislation, particularly the potential for a lack of homogeneity across local authority borders.

We are concerned that there is no single definition of ‘vulnerability’ or standard criteria for judging if an individual is vulnerable. For LHA to be administered quickly and efficiently it is crucial that there is accurate identification of cases where claimants have difficulty in managing their affairs so that payment direct to the landlord is necessary.  We therefore regret that there is nothing in the regulations requiring local authorities to have in place procedures to enable them to deliver this.

The NLA would like to see binding guidance issued to all local authorities requiring standardised definitions and procedures to help identify those in most need.

What we're doing

• The NLA attends the Department for Work and Pension (DWP) LHA working group representing the interests of private rented landlords.
• Liaising with local authorities regarding their implementation of the new system.
• Pressing for the introduction of national guidance for local authorities to ensure best practice.

What's your view?
• Complete our online survey, and let us know what you think.

Read the NLA Bulletin for the latest news:
• Bulletin no.2 : April 2008 [ 250kb PDF file]
• Bulletin no.1 : December 2007 [ 195kb PDF file]