Housing Benefit changing to Local Area Housing Allowance - eh?

[stripeymama]

Anyone living in an area where this has already been changed over? What does it mean?

Is it crap?

Are they just renaming it then or is something changing

Apparently they are going to pay a fixed amound depending on your household size and what the council deem 'fair rent' for the property you need.

You can keep the difference if you get somewhere cheaper, but only up to £15 a week.

But I'm worried about the council's definition of 'fair rent' - will it bear any relation to the actual rents on what is available in the area? and what if nothing of the right size is available?

I think we already have this

Well our rent is looked at every 6 months by a 'fair rent officer' who decides how much HB they will pay, sounds like the same thing but I haven't heard anything about a rebate at all.

Yes we have the fair rent officer already, but this is some new national scheme starting in April.

So basically every 2 adult 2 child family in the area will get the same amount, and it will be down to them to find somewhere they can afford iyswim?

Will be paid directly to tenants rather than landlords.

Oh ok, not sure what I think about that, will think about it.

I have heard of this i was reading something about this, my mum gets help with her rent because her income is to low for the price of the house.

I am sure i read it online will see if i can find more on it.

i've heard of it comes in wiht us in april - would be intrested to find out teh rates - then again before xmas I spoke to a chap in the HB office and he said he didn't have any clues as to when it was coming in or indeed what I was on about?

No I'm not sure what I think either!

All depends on whether they pay a genuinely 'fair' allowance for the area - not some figure dreamed up by a twat in an office.

And I worry that landlords will be less likely to take people on benefits as it will no longer be payable to them - the tenants could in theory just keep the rent and then do a runner.

Some info here -

Questions and answers for landlords

From 7 April 2008 Housing Benefit in the private rented sector is changing, and is being replaced by the new Local Housing Allowance (LHA). The changes will affect how Housing Benefit is calculated and how it is paid.

What is the Local Housing Allowance?

The LHA is a new way of deciding rent payments for people receiving Housing Benefit. It does not replace Housing Benefit.

It is based on the rent levels for the area a person wants to live in and on the number of people that live with them. There is no change to entitlement rules, these will still be based on a person's income, savings and proof of rent.

Why are the changes being made?

The LHA is part of the Government's agenda to modernise public services and will help to give everyone access to decent housing. The fundamental objectives of the LHA are to promote:

fairness

choice

transparency

personal responsibility

financial inclusion

increased work incentives

simplicity.

What are the rates based on?

Different LHA rates will apply in different areas. Within those areas, the rate will be based on the average rent charged by private landlords for properties of various sizes.

LHA rates will be further broken down into 'room rates' that will apply depending on the size of the household, including any non-dependants.

The size of the household will be based on allowing one bedroom for:

every adult couple

every other adult who is not part of a couple

any other adult aged 16 or over

any two children of the same sex

any two children regardless of sex under the age of ten

any other child.

The number of living rooms, kitchens and bathrooms is ignored for the purpose of the size criteria.

How is the Local Housing Allowance calculated?

It is calculated by the Rent Service for individual areas, known as Broad Market Rental Areas, each month. It is based on the average rental figure for that particular area depending on the size of the property.

Once the Rent Service has determined the rate for an area, an individual claimant's benefit will depend on their age and the size of their household. For example a person under the age of 25 will receive the shared room rate, whilst a couple with one child will receive the two room rate.

Can I appeal against the calculation?

No. Because the Broad Rental Market Area covers other tenants, any appeal could ultimately change the LHA rate for tenants who have not appealed and are content with their allowance

It sounds crap to me.

What if you live in a house that is technically bigger than you need ???

Under housing benefit rules I didn't have a problem claiming for here, I hope that doesn't change.

I also think paying the money to the tennant is a stupid idea.

Ah it's only private rentals.

Well just skim read but a couple of points

Our landlord only rented to us whilst we're on HB on the proviso that it was paid directly to him so I am not sure that he will be to happy about that.

The one room for every two children under 10, so if you have a 10 yr old child and a toddler they would have to share a room, that sounds workable

At the end of the day, its the Governments money and they can choose to allocate it as they see fit - sorry if that sounds harsh.

People do try it on with housing benefit, ie bigger house than needed etc.

I dont see anything wrong with 2 children having to share a room - yes its nice for them to have their own but not a necessity. You can always pay extra and top up the amount if you so wish in order to get an extra room.

Seems like they are trying to bring it in line with the ruling on council houses which seems fair enough to me.

HMOO, that is what the fair rent officer is for. If I tried to rent a 3 bedroom house ie a bigger house than we need they wouldn't pay full rent for us.

I can't see how it is possible to try it on.

its not the Govts money actually its mine.

i know of a couple of people who have stayed in their 3 bed house when they have no children.

so in that respect i think its a good idea.

housing asociations and councils have knows about this for ages and the good ones will have been trying to work with residents to get them to open basic bank accounts - as many did not have them - and to get them to set up a dd or their rent

we have a whole team of people who have been working for over a year to help residents who have inancial difficulties - in the best hope that we can encourage a rental income.

in the real world if you get money in your hand - and you know how dificult it is to evict you - you are up shit street with your money and you need to buy electric or it will be dark tonight - food or you wont eat tonight ...OR pay the rent

then your going to do the former.

however the fact that there are many people who have ben spoon fed and expect absolutley to be looked after by the state - does not negate the fact that everyone should take individual responsability for their own needs

this includes paying the rent. the smart people will pay it

but i am sorry to say that some people would buy other things and pay back to HA at £5 per week

I am quite worried about this. We are moving to a new house soon and will have to claim HB until dp can find a new job. The thing is, it is 3 beds with loft (but that won't count) and the rent is quite reasonable but the prob I have is they may say it is too big as one of the bedrooms is for dp's dd who doesn't live with us full time but who he has got joint custody of. She is supposed to stay every weekend. She is 11 and we can't really expect her to share with a 18 mth old boy plus a newborn baby when it's born. I don't think they take account of sd because we don't receive the child benefit so will only award us the amount of rent for a 2 bed house as in their eyes that's all we need.

Well i suppose children sharing all depends on the children.

My kids share ds is 5.4 & dd is nearly 2 it is a total nightmare, ds takes ages to go to sleep & messes about & dd who goes to bed earlier is a very very light sleeper.

I stagger there bed times but ds still manages to wake dd up which then means going round in bloody circles.

To be honest i don't mind them sharing at all but i wish dd was a heavier sleeper & ds would just go to sleep in the first place.

It would be hard with a baby & say a 9-10 year old because the 9-10 yr old has to go to school & the baby would probably be waking them up in the night, my dd is nearly 2 & STILL gets up through the night.

So it is not as easy as people think sometimes.

However the new house we are looking to move to only has 2 bedrooms again but this won't effect us as we don't get housing benefit due to dp's wages covering our rent.

It is hard when you have a baby waking an older child up, or an older child waking a baby up, but you can always put the baby back in your own bedroom for a few years. It can be done, and most people who have been housed by the LA in the last 5 years have to do it. You just don't get given a bedroom each any more - and I know so many single men in 3 bedroom family council houses because the wife left, was rehoused, and took the kids with her. That's not about need.

We npw leave dd to sleep, we put ds to bed in our bed then when he finally decides to go to sleep dp carries him into his own bed, this is the only way that works for us, as when ds has gone to sleep thats him gone for the night, you can move him, play music whatever he does not wake up.

Dd just seems to be a very very light sleeper.

I don't see how it is possible for people with bigger houses than needed to 'try-it-on'
LA's only pay HB for the size of house they think you need.
And the fair rent officer is a load of shite too. Our rent went up last year from £600 a month to £625 a month, but is still at least £100 less than other houses of the same size around here. Yet the LA refuse to acknowledge the extra £25 and do what they want.

and the local rent officer agrees - he is based almost 100 miles form us and never even came to look at the house.

I know a baby can go in with the adults, at the mo our 17 mth old is sharing our room because he can't share with sd who is 11. The thing is we are expecting another so are we supposed to have two babies in our room because if we only have 2 beds, sd will have to have the other room, even tho she is not there all the time. You can't really expect an 11 year old to sleep on the sofa as she goes to bed earlier than us. They will probably say we have to have an 11 year old, a toddler and a baby all in the same room!