Local Housing Allowance

If you are renting your property from a private landlord, the Local Housing Allowance is used to work out how much housing benefit you get.

If you have been getting housing benefit since before 7th April 2008 the Local Housing Allowance will only apply to you if you:

• Change address
• Have a break in your claim

Local Housing Allowance does not apply to:

• People who rent their home from the Council
• People who rent their home from a Registered Social Landlord or Housing Association
• People whose tenancy started before 1989 or who have a registered fair rent
• People who live in supported accommodation
• People who live in hostels, caravans and houseboats
• It may not apply if your rent includes an amount for meals

From April 2012:

From 1st April 2012 Local Housing Allowance rates will be set for 12 months and will not change again until April 2013. This means, irrespective of which month you make your claim in, the Local Housing Allowance figure used will be the annual figure set in April 2012. Rates from April 2012 to April 2013.

Local Housing Allowance rates are set for different types of accommodation in each area and also take into account where you live and who lives with you. The rates range from a single room in a shared house up to properties with four bedrooms.

If your claim is calculated using the Local Housing Allowance we will consider the number of rooms your household needs, not the number of rooms in the property or the amount of rent you are charged. If you require more than four rooms your Local Housing Allowance will be restricted to four room rate.

The number of bedrooms you need is based on the number, age and gender of people you have living with you.

You are allowed one bedroom for:

• A couple
• Any other adult (age 16 or over)
• Any two children under the age of 10
• Any two children of the same sex under the age of 16
• Any other child under the age of 16
• Non resident carer for overnight stays- As of 01.04.11

For single claimants under 35 years old there will be a "shared" rate of Local Housing Allowance. This rate will also apply to single people over 35 and couples with no other occupiers who choose to live in shared accommodation.

Choose the ‘Shared accommodation’ rate if one or more of the below applies:

• You are part of a couple, don’t live with dependants and rent a room in shared accommodation
• You are 34 years or younger and single (exemptions for severely disabled people and care leavers under 22 years of age)
• You are 35 years or over, and rent a room for your sole use in a shared accommodation

Choose the ‘One bedroom’ rate if:

You are 35 years or over and rent a self-contained property (e.g. a whole flat or house)
You are 25 to 34 and rent a self-contained property and meet either of the following criteria:
Vulnerable Homeless: You have for a total of at least 3 months (whether or not continuously), occupied as your home, one or more hostels for homeless people; and whilst occupying such a hostel, have been offered and have accepted support services with a view to assisting to be rehabilitated or resettled within the community.
Ex Offenders: The exemption will apply to ex offenders aged 25 or over who are subject to Multi Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA).The exemption will only apply if you are a Level 2 or 3 MAPPA offender. If you feel you are eligible for exemption under this rule then please contact your Offender Manager or the Duty Manager at the Probation Services or Police Station. Please do not telephone or write to this council with your details, as an exemption can only be awarded by the Probation Services or Police Services completing the appropriate form and sending the form to Southampton City Council through a secure email address.

The Local Housing Allowance rates are set by the Rent Service and are available on the Southampton City Council website. The Rent Service will provide rates for households that require up to four bedrooms. You can calculate the number of rooms you are entitled to by using the LHA Direct link at the bottom of this page.

Housing Benefit which is paid based on Local Housing Allowance will normally be paid directly into your bank account. For payments to go directly to your landlord you will need to fulfil one of the following criteria: you are classed as a vulnerable person, or are in arrears with your rent by 8 weeks or more or have requested payments to go direct to your landlord on the basis they have kept your rent at a reasonable figure. You may need to complete: a Direct Payment Decision form, a Direct Payment to Landlord form and provide evidence to support your request.

Payment of Benefits FAQs

1. My landlord is a Housing Association. How will my benefit be paid?

If you are renting from a Housing Association, payments of Housing Benefit can either be sent to you every 2 weeks or sent directly to your landlord every 4 weeks.
If you would prefer to have your Housing Benefit paid directly to your landlord you and your landlord will have to complete a Direct Payment to landlord form to enable this. Your landlord will then receive your Housing Benefit payments on your behalf every 4 weeks.

2. I rent from a private landlord. How will my benefit be paid?

Housing Benefit which is paid based on Local Housing Allowance will normally be paid directly into your bank account. Payments made to you will be sent two weekly, payments made direct to your landlord will be made four weekly.

For payments to go directly to your landlord you will need to fulfill one of the following criteria: you are classed as a vulnerable person, or are in arrears with your rent by 8 weeks or more or have requested payments to go direct to your landlord on the basis they have kept your rent at a reasonable figure.

You may need to complete: a Direct Payment Decision form, a Direct Payment to Landlord form and provide evidence to support your request.

If you rent from a private landlord and your claim is not paid under the Local Housing Allowance (referred to the Rent Officer) scheme you can have benefit paid to you or your landlord without having to fulfill any of the above criteria.

3. I am a council tenant. How is my benefit paid?

If you are renting from the council your Housing Benefit will be paid directly to your rent account every week.

4. How is Council Tax Benefit paid?

Any Council Tax Benefit awarded to you is credited to your Council Tax account and a new bill is issued with reduced instalments.

Basic Bank Account FAQ

1. What is a basic bank account?

Most banks now provide basic bank accounts that give access to limited banking facilities. Generally speaking these accounts allow you to receive your income and withdraw cash from cash machines but do not allow you to have an overdraft facility, cheque book, debit card or credit card. Some do allow the issue of Solo or Visa Electron cards that can be used to buy goods in shops. Most basic bank accounts are credit scored and this means that you may be eligible to upgrade your account to a current account at a future date.

2. Why have a basic bank account?

We pay most of our private tenants’ Housing Benefit via BACS. To receive such payments you must have a bank account. The advantages of receiving Housing Benefit via BACS are:

you don’t need to wait for a cheque to clear;
there are no postal delays;
there is no risk of theft;
Housing Benefit can still be withdrawn from various places including the Post Office;
you avoid costly charges made by cheque encashment companies, who charge between 5 and 10% of the value of a cheque;
you can take advantage of discounts from companies by having bills paid by direct debit.

If you are being paid Housing Benefit through the Local Housing Allowance scheme, your entitlement will be paid via BACS, so you must have a bank account. If you do not have a bank account you may be able to open a basic bank account.

3. What banks have basic bank accounts?

There are several banks that offer basic bank accounts. These are:

Abbey
Alliance & Leicester
Barclays
Cooperative bank
Halifax
HSBC
Lloyds TSB
Nationwide
NatWest
Royal Bank of Scotland

4. What documents do I need to open an account?

As part of the application for a basic bank account documents will need to be provided as proof of identity and residency.

Downloadable documents

Name of file	Size	Download time
LHA - Information for landlords	59 KB	0secs @ 2Mbps
LHA - Important changes from 01.04.11	58 KB	0secs @ 2Mbps
Opening a Bank Account	367 KB	1secs @ 2Mbps
LHA Vulnerability Policy	118 KB	0secs @ 2Mbps

Link to download Adobe Acrobat if required

Contact information

If you want to contact us regarding the content of this page please contact us at:

benefit.services@southampton.gov.uk
023 8083 3009
Benefit Services, Southampton City Council, Civic Centre, Southampton, SO14 7LY

For any other council related enquiries please contact:

enquiries@southampton.gov.uk
023 8083 3000
General Enquiries Civic Centre, SO14 7LY