Information for landlords
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is for people on a low income who rent from private landlords. LHA is based on the number of rooms people are allowed, not how much the rent is. The number of rooms allowed depends on who lives with the tenant.
Landlords affected by the Local Housing Allowance
LHA affects any landlord who enters into a deregulated private tenancy agreement with a person awarded housing benefit. Deregulated means entered into since 1989 and not covered by any of the exceptions listed below.
LHA does not affect:
- tenancies with registered social landlords
- protected cases, such as supported housing provided by certain local authorities, social landlords, charities and voluntary organisations
- tenancies which are excluded from current rent restrictions
- tenancies in caravans, houseboats and hostels
- tenancies where the rent officer decides that a substantial part of the rent is for board and attendance, such as hotel accommodation