If you are on a low income, housing benefit helps to pay for part or all of your rent.
Private tenants
If you rent your home from a private landlord your housing benefit will be calculated on the local housing allowance (LHA) rate appropriate to your household size and the area of the East Riding you live in.
The LHA rate will be the maximum amount of housing benefit you will be eligible to receive based on the number of bedrooms your household needs. This is not the amount of benefit you may receive.
The LHA is set annually each April by the Valuation Office Agency.
Check your LHA rate on the GOV.UK website.
Local authority or housing association tenants
If you rent your home from the council or a housing association your housing benefit will be calculated on the rent for your property less any service charges which we cannot pay, such as water rates.
Working-age customers
Your eligible rent figure may be restricted if you have a spare bedroom(s) based on the number of bedrooms required by your household.
The following size criteria apply, a bedroom will be allocated to:
- a single adult or couple
- 2 children under the age of 10 of the same or opposite sex
- 2 children under the age of 16 of the same sex
- each person aged 16 or over
- any other child
- a bedroom for a non-resident carer where overnight care is needed.
There are additional rules for:
- disabled children
- foster carers
- non-dependents who are in the armed forces.
What is the reduction?
- A 14% reduction for those who are deemed to be under-occupying by one room
- A 25% reduction for those who are deemed to be under-occupying by two or more rooms.