Discretionary Housing Payments

If you are renting from a private landlord then the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) will apply to you.

The LHA is based on a set area where the claimant lives, the number of occupiers in the property and their ages.

The LHA that is used to work out your benefit will depend on how many people are in your household.

Allow one bedroom for:

• every adult couple (married or unmarried)
• any other adult aged 16 or over
• any two children of the same sex aged under 16
• any two children aged under 10
• any other child (under 16)

We do not count other rooms such as a living room, kitchen or bathroom.

Single claimants under 35 years old will be entitled to the shared accommodation rate of LHA.

Single claimants over 35 years old and couples with no dependent children will be entitled to the 1 bedroom rate of LHA, providing they have exclusive use of a property of at least that size.

For example, an adult couple with one child would need 1 bedroom for the couple, and 1 bedroom for the child. We would use the 2 bedroom LHA level to work out their benefit.

Local Housing Allowance rates (per week) from 1 April 2024

• Shared Accommodation Room Rate: £99.50
• One Bedroom Rate: £132.33
• Two Bedroom Rate: £155.34
• Three Bedroom Rate: £178.36
• Four Bedroom Rate: £230.14