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Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are used to calculate Housing Benefit for tenants renting from private landlords.

How Local Housing Allowance rates are calculated

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are decided by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) using information provided by the Valuation Office Agency (VOA).

LHA rates are based on private market rents being paid by tenants in a Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA). This is the area within which a person might reasonably be expected to live.

These rents are being paid by people with the same number of bedrooms as the property where you live, or the number of rooms you and your household needs.

VOA rent officers collect rental data from letting agents, landlords, tenants, and other sources.

This data is then shared with DWP on an annual basis.

You can find the current LHA rates on LHA-Direct by searching by postcode or local authority area.

You can also check how many bedrooms you may be eligible for, based on the number of people in your household.