Local Housing Allowance (LHA)

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is for people living in private rented accommodation who are entitled to claim Housing Benefit.

Your Housing Benefit is based on the LHA rate that applies to you. This depends on how many bedrooms your household needs.

How many bedrooms can you get LHA for?

You are allowed one bedroom for each of the following:

a couple
anyone aged 16 or over
two children of the same sex
two children who are under 10 (regardless of sex)
any other child (except a foster child, or a child whose main home is elsewhere)

You may get an additional bedroom if:

you, your partner or your child has a disability or medical condition and needs overnight care, or needs their own bedroom
you or your partner is an approved foster carer or kinship carer (this can include the time between placements)

Shared Accommodation LHA Rate

Your Housing Benefit will be based on the Shared Accommodation Rate of LHA if you have exclusive use of one room but share facilities, such as a kitchen or bathroom, with another tenant in the property who is not your spouse/partner, dependant or non-dependant.

This rate will also usually apply if you are single and under 35, unless one of the following applies:

If you are single and under 35 years of age, you will only be entitled to the LHA rate for shared accommodation unless you:

you have exclusive use of more than one room
one or more dependants or non-dependants live with you
you get certain disability benefits
you have a carer who stays overnight
you have spent 3 months or more in a homeless hostel that provides rehabilitation and resettlement support

Find your LHA Rate

Check your Local Housing Allowance rate and use this to get an estimate of how much benefit you may be entitled to by using our Housing and Council Tax Benefit Reduction Calculator.

You can also calculate how many bedrooms you are allowed using the LHA bedroom calculator.

For more information, please contact our Benefits and Council Tax Call Centre