You will need to use these rates if you want to work out how much housing benefit you will receive under the Local Housing Allowance rules.
The Local Housing Allowance rules apply to you if:
- you have been claiming Housing Benefit claimant from 7 April 2008 onwards
Or
you have been in continuous receipt of Housing Benefit since before 7 April, 2008 and you:
- move address
- have a break in your housing benefit of a week or more
Firstly, you will need to work out how many bedrooms you are allowed:
You are entitled to one bedroom for:
- every adult couple (married or unmarried)
- any other adult aged 16 or over
- any two children of the same sex aged under 16
- any two children aged under 10
- any other child.
Please note, if you share the accommodation with anyone else other than your family, you must use the shared room rate. You must also use this rate if you are single and aged under 25 with no children (from January 2012, this is changing to if you are single and aged under 35 with no children).
The Local Housing Allowance rate that applies for the area you live in, depends on what Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA) you live in. There are four BRMA’s covering the Shropshire Council area. These are:
- Black Country
- Shropshire
- Staffordshire
- Worcester North
Each of these BRMA’s have Local Housing Allowance rates that show you the amount your Housing Benefit assessment will be based on, depending on the number of rooms you need.
If you want to find out the Local Housing Allowance rate for your postcode (or for the postcode of the address you are thinking of moving to), please follow the VOA Local Housing Allowance Rates link on this page.
If you know what BRMA you live in and you know the number of rooms you need, the current Local Housing Allowance Rates are as shown on the LHA Rates document on this page.
Please note that the way the Valuation Office Agency sets Local Housing Allowance rates changed in April 2011. This has resulted in the rates being lower than they were previously.
Please also note that Local Housing Allowance rates have been restricted to the 4 bed rate since April, 2011 for new customers.
Customers already receiving Housing Benefit may receive a period of protection before we reduce their Housing Benefit due to these changes. If you have any queries about these changes, please contact the Benefits Service
The Local Housing Allowance rules are changing from January 2012 for single people who live alone and who are aged under 35.
- Any new claims received from these people after that date will receive Housing Benefit based on the shared room rate of Local Housing Allowance.
- Existing customers who claimed before April 2011 will be reduced to the shared room rate from their first LHA anniversary date.
- Existing customers who claimed before April 2011 and who have transitional protection from the April 2011 changes (when LHA rates were reduced) will reduce to the shared room rate once the transitional protection has ended.
There are 2 exemptions to this rule as follows:
- Ex-offenders who pose a risk of serious harm to the public who are subject to Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) under management levels 2 and 3.
- Former residents of specialist hostels for homeless people for at least three months, where the hostel assists the homeless people to be rehabilitated or resettled in the community.
For further information on Local Housing Allowance, please follow the links on this page or contact the Benefits Service.