Size criteria

• Working out your accommodation requirements
• What else might affect your Local Housing Allowance (LHA)?
• Couples without dependant children
• Over 25s who live alone
• Joint tenants

Working out your accommodation requirements

The number of people who live with the claimant as members of their family determines how many bedrooms they need and the size of the accommodation they will qualify for under the LHA rules. We do not count other rooms such as living rooms, kitchens or toilets.

The following information can be used as a guide to work out how many bedrooms a claimant will qualify for.

Claimants will qualify for one bedroom for:

• Every adult couple (married or unmarried or in a civil partnership)
• Any other adult aged 16 or over
• Any two children under age 10
• Any two children of the same sex aged under 16
• Any other child.

The number of bedrooms a claimant qualifies for is used to decide which LHA rate will apply to them.

Example 1:

Claimant lives in a 2 bedroom property. The claimant qualifies for a 2 bedroom property under LHA rules, Housing Benefit will be calculated using the 2 bedroom rate for the area they live in.

Example 2:

Claimant lives in a 3 bedroom property but qualifies for a two bedroom rate, they will receive Housing Benefit calculated using the two bedroom LHA rate for that area.

Example 3:

Claimant lives in a 1 bedroom property but qualifies for a 2 bedroom rate. They will receive Housing Benefit calculated using the 2 bedroom rate for that area.

Important Information

The government is making changes to the way Housing Benefit is calculated under the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) scheme. Since 6 April 2009, the LHA rates have been capped at the five bedroom rate for all new claims. This means no new customers will receive the LHA rate for more than five bedrooms.

These changes mean existing claimants receiving the LHA rate of 6 bedrooms or more will also have their rate capped at five bedrooms. However, there will be transitional protection for these claimants.

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What else might affect your LHA?

A claimant may not get the bedroom based rate of LHA if they share some or all of the facilities in the property they rent. A shared accommodation rate applies to claimants who have their own bedroom but share other parts of their home with other tenants.

Most single people aged under 25 will only qualify for the shared accommodation rate regardless of the type of accommodation they live in.

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Couples without dependent children

If a claimant is part of a couple who have no children living with them and they choose to live in a property where all or some of the facilities are shared, they will get the shared accommodation rate.

If a claimant is part of a couple who have no children living with them and they live in self contained accommodation, they will qualify for a one-bedroom accommodation rate.

A self-contained property means one where you have at least one room nobody else uses and a bathroom, toilet and cooking facilities that nobody else uses, for example, a one-bedroom flat.

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Over 25s who live alone

If a claimant is aged 25 or over and lives alone, they will get the rate for a one-bedroom property as long as they are not sharing the accommodation.

If the same claimant lives in a property where all or some of the facilities are shared with other tenants, they will only get the shared accommodation rate.

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Joint tenants

If a claimant rents a property with other joint tenants, the Housing Benefit they receive will depend on the LHA rate that matches the size of their family.

Example 1:

3 joint tenants each of whom is single. The shared accommodation rate will apply to each of them (3 separate claims will be needed)

Example 2:

2 joint tenants, one of whom has a child living with them. The shared accommodation rate will apply to the single joint tenant. The 2 bedroom LHA rate will apply to the joint tenant with the child.

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