Questions and Answers
Worried about what you can afford?
You may be able to get Local Housing Allowance (LHA). LHA is for people on a low income who rent from private landlords. LHA is based on the number of room you are allowed, not how much the rent is. The number of rooms allowed depends on who lives with you. See ‘How much will I be paid’ for further information. What is Local Housing Allowance LHA is a new way of working out Housing Benefit for some people. Housing Benefit can cover or pay towards your rent. The Council pays it to people on low incomes. Who can get Local Housing Allowance? LHA is for people on a low income living in private rented accommodation. Who can get Local Housing Allowance? You cannot get LHA if: But you may still be able to get help with your rent. You can find out more about this from our How much Local Housing Allowance can I get? The amount of LHA you can get depends on: LHA does not depend on how much rent you pay. The City of Edinburgh has been split into areas. Each area may have a different LHA rate. An independent rent officer sets these rates, based on local rents. See ‘ What’s different about LHA? Knowing the amount of LHA will let you work out what rent you can afford. So when you go looking for somewhere to live you can work out how much money you will have. Then you can choose a place that suits you. What if I find somewhere to live and the rent is the same as Local Housing Allowance? If the rent is the same as the LHA, you will usually get any LHA paid to you, and you will have to pay your rent to your landlord. What if I find somewhere to live but the rent is lower than LHA? Some properties will have a rent lower than the amount of LHA you can get. If you move into one of these, you can still get the amount of LHA and you can keep the difference. This will not affect any other social security benefits you get. You will usually get any LHA paid to you and you will have to pay your rent to your landlord. What if I find somewhere to live but the rent is higher than LHA You may find a property where the rent is more than the LHA you can get. The Council will not pay more LHA. You will have to pay the difference from your other income. You will usually get any LHA paid to you and you will have to pay your rent to your landlord. Who is Local Housing allowance paid to? Usually LHA is paid to the tenant. As a tenant you are responsible for paying your rent to your landlord. If you do not pay the rent your landlord may apply to us, the City of Edinburgh Counci, to have it paid to them, or take other action to recover their money. When can I claim Local Housing Allowance? If you are a private tenant and currently on Housing Benefit you do not need to do anything. You will be transferred to LHA automatically. If you do not currently claim Housing Benefit you can make a claim for Local Housing Allowance when you have an agreement with the landlord. Contact our Remember you may not get the full rate of LHA if your income or savings are too high. You can get in touch with us during office hours to discuss this. How will Local Housing Allowance be paid? In most cases we will pay LHA directly to you. You cannot ask to have you LHA paid direct to your landlord. The easiest way is to have it paid into a bank or building society account. And if you have a bank or building society account you can arrange for your rent to be paid direct to your landlord. If you don’t have an account you may want to open one. Further information You can get further information about Local Housing Allowance from the Information is also available on the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) website. The address is:
What is Local Housing Allowance?
How much will I get paid?
How will I be paid?
Why you may need to set up a bank account
Contact information