Local Housing Allowance

The Local Housing Allowance (LHA) arrangements are a way of working out Housing Benefit (HB) for people who rent from a private landlord. Local authorities use LHA rates based on the size of household and the area in which a person lives to work out the amount of rent which can be met with HB. HB paid under the LHA arrangements is normally paid to the tenant, who will then pay the landlord.

Changes to the LHA arrangements from April 2011

From 1 April 2011 we are making major changes to the LHA arrangements, including how the rates are worked out and how much benefit can be paid.

• Changes to the LHA arrangements from April 2011

What’s on this site

This site contains detailed information about LHA for local authorities, landlords, advisers and intermediaries and is made up of the following sections:

• Background
• Changes to the LHA arrangements from April 2011
• Changes to the shared accommodation rate (SAR) from 1 January 2012
• Communications
• Training
• Regulations
• Guidance
• Good Practice
• Evaluation
• FAQs

• An introduction to Local Housing Allowance for tenants is available on the Directgov website.