Housing benefit changes

In the coalition Government’s emergency budget of June 2010 changes to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) scheme were announced. These changes will affect tenants who rent from or are considering renting from a private landlord and claim Housing Benefit.

Customers who already get Housing Benefit will not immediately be affected by the changes until their claim is reviewed. Some customers will then have a further period of protection for up to nine months which will mean their LHA rate might not change until December 2012.

Changes to the scheme include:

• Removing the up to £15 per week excess benefit top up
• Reducing the number of bedrooms LHA helps with from five to four
• Introducing absolute caps so LHA rates cannot exceed:
• £250 for a one bedroom property
• £290 for a two bedroom property
• £340 for a three bedroom property
• £400 for a four bedroom property

The protection period will give people more time to adjust to a change in circumstances but if any resident is concerned about the changes they can phone Rochdale Council’s Contact Centre on 0845 121 2970 or email benefits@rochdale.gov.uk.