Rates from 1st April 2012 to 31st March 2013 inclusive:
| Size Criteria |
Weekly room rate |
| Shared accommodation |
£66.92 |
| 1 Bedroom |
£90.00 |
| 2 Bedrooms |
£115.38 |
| 3 Bedrooms |
£137.31 |
| 4 Bedrooms |
£201.92 |
From 1st April 11 the maximum LHA rate payable for New Claims is for the 4 bedroom rate only.
The Rent Officer has based his assessment on access to the following public services within a Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA):-
Health, Education, Leisure, Personal Banking & Shopping.
The amount of LHA payable will be based on these “Room Rates”. Each claimant will be assessed to establish the number of rooms they require, depending on the number of people in the household, including the non-dependants. To calculate the size criteria you need to count one bedroom for the following people:
To calculate how many rooms that you would be entitled to, please use the attached calculator: LHA room rate calculator
Every adult couple (married or unmarried)
Any other adult aged 16 or over
Any two children under age 10
Any two children of the same sex aged under 16
Any other child (under 16)
Each person is counted only once, in the first group that they would come into.
Single claimants aged under 25 years (Under 35 years from 1st January 2012) will be entitled to the standard rate for a room in shared accommodation. This will be based on properties where the tenant has a room of their own, but shares all or some of the facilities (for example, a living room kitchen or bathroom). This will be known as the Shared Accommodation Rate.
Reviewing the Room Rates
We will review your LHA rate every year on the anniversary of the day you claimed. Your maximum Housing Benefit will then be the LHA rate that applies for that month, so this may mean that your benefit changes.
The Local Housing Allowance changes that will take effect from 1st April 2011 applies to all new claims made after that date.
Existing claims, that is, claims made prior to 1st April 2011 will not be affected by the changes until they reach their anniversary date. For further information on these changes see our Local Housing Allowance changes leaflet.
I don’t agree with the Local Housing Allowance rate. Can I appeal?
No, it is not possible to appeal against the LHA rate. This is because the level is set for the whole BRMA and any change would affect people who are satisfied with the rate.
My rent is higher than Local Housing Allowance
The maximum benefit you will receive is the LHA rate for the size of your household, for the month you make your claim in. If your rent is more than this figure, you will need to make up this shortfall yourself. If you have special circumstances see information on Discretionary Housing Payment Fund.
How will I be paid?
Under LHA rules you will receive your Housing Benefit payment direct to your bank account, 4 weeks in arrears, except in certain circumstances.
What happens if I don’t have a bank account?
If you don’t have a bank account, we will pay your Housing Benefit by cheque in some circumstances although we prefer to pay into a bank account as it is safer and more efficient.
Scotcash Money Advice can give advice and information about how to open a bank account or alternatively a basic bank account can also be opened with Glasgow Credit Union.
What if I'm unable to manage my money?
We will only pay your benefit straight to your landlord if we think you will have difficulty managing your rent, or if we do not think that you will pay your rent, this is known as a safeguard.
We will make a decision on your safeguard request based on your individual circumstances and will ask you to provide us with reasons and evidence why we should pay your benefit direct to your landlord.
Further information on Safeguarding is available on another page.
Click here for a Safeguard request form (this form should not be used for those tenants with rent arrears, see below for this request form.)
To report rent arrears please see information for Landlords later in this section.
Click here to view Glasgow City Council's Safeguard Policy (PDF - 31k - 3 pages)
Information for Landlords
In recognition that some tenants may struggle with the responsibility of paying the rent, some safeguards have been put in place:-
If the local authority considers the tenant as “vulnerable”, i.e. is likely to have difficulty in managing their affairs, or,
If the tenant has a history of failing to pay their rent, or,
If the tenant falls into 8 weeks arrears
The local authority can continue to pay the Housing Benefit payments directly to the landlord.
Landlords can report rent arrears by several means although to allow for early intervention we suggest they are reported following a failure to pay after 4 weeks. At this stage the claimant would be interviewed in the benefits office or by home visit to assist with the decision for safeguarding. To help speed up the safeguarding process and minimise rent arrears accruing, landlords should provide their bank account details with any request for safeguarding. We are also reliant on landlords contacting us if the tenant has left the property with arrears outstanding. We can consider safeguarding future claims from these tenants.
Click here for Safeguard request form due to rent arrears - tenant in 8 weeks full rent arrears or more.
Click here to view Glasgow City Council's Safeguard Policy.
A landlord application for Safeguarding will be available here for download soon.
Alternatively, if you require further information on Local Housing Allowance please contact us.
Website Links
Department for Work & Pensions
www.dwp.gov.uk/housingbenefit/lha
Citizens Advice Bureau
http://www.cas.org.uk/
Scotcash Money Advice
http://www.scotcash.net/
Glasgow Credit Union
http://www.glasgowcouncilcu.com/