|
Local Housing Allowance
Since 7th April 2008, if you claim for the first time, change
your address or reclaim after a gap in your claim, at a property
owned by a private landlord, your entitlement can only be
calculated on the lowest
Local Housing Allowance rate, the shared accomodation
rate, regardless of the actual type of accomodation that you live
in. However, if your rent includes a substantial amount for
board/lodging then you will be assessed under the Housing
Benefit Scheme (see below).
Housing Benefit Scheme
If you are under 25 and you rent from a private landlord we have
to base the amount of Housing Benefit that we can pay you on a
single room rent. The figure used to calculate the single room rent
is provided to us by the rent Officer. We are obliged to use this
figure even if you have a single room in a shared flat and pay a
proportion of the rent on the whole accommodation.
What happens if I live with a close relative and
they charge me rent?
If you live with one of the following people and they are also
your Landlord you can not claim Housing benefit:
- Parent, step parent or parent-in-law
- Brother or sister
- Son, daughter, stepson or stepdaughter
- Son or daughter-in-law
- Or the partner of any of the previously mentioned
people |