New LHA rates: what do they mean?
Published: by Jenny Pennington
On 20 March, the chancellor announced that Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates for housing benefit will be increased to match ‘the 30th percentile’ of rents in each local area. We’ll explain more about what this means in detail, but this is a major, necessary change that will help many people cope during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and in the future.
Why is this an important change?
Housing benefit is a vital part of the social safety net for renters. It is the best way we have of helping people pay their rent during this period to match the help being given to struggling home owners through mortgage holidays. This flexibility means people can stay in their homes while they have less income or are out of work.
Currently, 1.4 million private renting households claim housing benefit on its own, or as part of Universal Credit. We expect this number to grow substantially in the next few months.
What is Local Housing Allowance?
The LHA ‘rate’ is the maximum amount of housing benefit that a private renter can claim to help pay their rent. In theory, LHA is designed so that you will get enough housing benefit to cover the cost of renting a typical home in your area, that is large enough for your needs.
When you submit a claim for housing benefit, you receive either:
- enough to cover your full rent (if your rent is below the LHA rate), or
- the maximum amount of LHA (if your rent is at or above the LHA rate)
This is why it is so important that local housing allowance rates are set appropriately and in a way that matches local rents, so that renters are not put at risk of homelessness.
What is my LHA rate?
The cost of renting a typical home varies depending on where you live in the country and the number of bedrooms you need. There are 760 different LHA rates.
You can find out what yours would be by looking up the size of home you would qualify for, and the name of the housing benefit area you live in by putting your postcode in here.[1]
What is ‘rent at the 30th percentile’?
This is the technical way of describing the cost of renting one of the cheaper homes in an area. Imagine randomly selecting 100 homes in an area, and lining them up from cheapest to most expensive… The cost of renting the home that is 30th from the bottom would be the 30th percentile rent.
It means that LHA will cover the rents of up to three in every 10 homes in an area. There’s a full list of what rents are at the 30th percentile for each home size, for each area, below.
Will this announcement make a difference?
It will make a huge difference to private renters claiming housing benefit, or those who will need support from the system in the coming months. As we recently set out, after a decade of cuts and freezes, previous LHA rates in most areas are nowhere near the cost of renting a typical home. In fact, 97% of England is unaffordable to families on LHA. This broken system has lead to spiralling homelessness and hardship for those who are reliant on it. And it would not meet the essential role needed in the fight against Covid19.
However, these are extraordinary times. Though many who are employed but cannot work are having most of their salaries paid by the government, many have already lost their jobs. Others, like the five million self-employed people, are likely to have substantially less or no income during this period. As a result, over half a million people have applied for Universal Credit in the last nine days alone.
And even with these changes, the majority of renters will not have their full rent covered by LHA, with 70% of private rented homes above the LHA rate. This will limit the power of housing benefit to prevent hardship and homelessness. It will place huge pressure on renters, most of whom will have no option to increase their income during this time. And remember, services are shutting down and everyone is being told to stay put, so people are very unlikely to be able to move to somewhere cheaper during this period.
There is also still a five-week wait for help to be delivered, and other tripwires in the system that will reduce the impact of these changes for many. These include:
- the overall benefit cap that limits the income people can receive for work-related benefits to £20,000 per year, or £23,000 in London, and
- the national LHA caps, which were set in 2011 to place an overall limit on how much household could receive
The aim of the LHA national caps was to reduce the amount being paid in housing benefit by the government. Both of these measures will prevent certain households from being able to fully benefit from this emergency funding.
What would help?
The government’s response has returned us to the minimum of where we need to be in ordinary times. This is hugely welcome. But the last few years have shown us how vitally important it is to have a housing benefit system that works. We must go further in these extraordinary times.
The government must lift LHA rates as an emergency measure, to cover average rents across every local market. This will allow more renters to access safe accommodation and cover their rents for this period. The five-week wait within the Universal Credit system should be removed by ensuring the advance payment is provided as a grant rather than a loan, and the benefit cap and national LHA caps removed, so that changes translate into actual support.
With the current unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, there will be huge numbers of people needing to claim LHA for the first time. There will be people living in homes they can quite comfortably afford in normal circumstances who will be made redundant or be unable to continue working, or see a reduction in pay. It is essential that they can cover these rents, in order to avoid having to move home during the current outbreak.
Rents at the 30th percentile
Find out which LHA rate you would receive by looking up the size of a home you would qualify for by entering your details here, and the name of the housing benefit area you live in by putting in your postcode here. The 30th percentile rents for each area and home size are listed below. We are awaiting clarification from the government about whether these will be the exact LHA rates introduced in April, and will update this blog when we receive it.
List of Rents 30th Percentile (monthly)
| Room in a shared house | One bedroom | Two bedrooms | Three bedrooms | Four bedrooms | |
| Ashford | £338.93 | £625.02 | £730.00 | £899.99 | £1,129.98 |
| Aylesbury | £341.49 | £674.99 | £800.00 | £1,049.98 | £1,399.99 |
| Barnsley | £267.23 | £365.00 | £399.98 | £475.02 | £645.01 |
| Barrow-in-Furness | £353.49 | £376.04 | £445.00 | £550.02 | £725.00 |
| Basingstoke | £341.49 | £695.02 | £824.99 | £950.00 | £1,249.99 |
| Bath | £459.81 | £725.00 | £850.02 | £995.02 | £1,750.00 |
| Bedford | £345.75 | £575.01 | £725.00 | £875.00 | £1,150.01 |
| Birmingham | £291.13 | £524.99 | £625.02 | £674.99 | £850.02 |
| Black Country | £261.50 | £398.98 | £510.00 | £594.99 | £749.99 |
| Blackwater Valley | £375.86 | £700.02 | £875.00 | £1,100.00 | £1,450.01 |
| Bolton and Bury | £290.00 | £394.98 | £480.02 | £594.99 | £800.00 |
| Bournemouth | £332.41 | £598.51 | £759.98 | £950.00 | £1,249.99 |
| Bradford & South Dales | £296.78 | £350.01 | £449.99 | £524.99 | £614.98 |
| Brighton and Hove | £430.00 | £800.00 | £1,000.01 | £1,199.98 | £1,694.99 |
| Bristol | £391.51 | £695.02 | £824.99 | £950.00 | £1,324.99 |
| Bury St Edmunds | £360.00 | £524.99 | £650.00 | £800.00 | £1,199.98 |
| Cambridge | £421.49 | £775.02 | £850.02 | £950.00 | £1,300.01 |
| Canterbury | £341.49 | £594.99 | £795.00 | £974.98 | £1,249.99 |
| Central Greater Manchester | £328.07 | £599.99 | £650.00 | £725.00 | £950.00 |
| Central Lancs | £288.96 | £394.98 | £500.01 | £575.01 | £795.00 |
| Central London | £669.99 | £1,733.01 | £2,361.98 | £3,302.38 | £4,294.83 |
| Central Norfolk & Norwich | £360.00 | £495.01 | £599.99 | £710.01 | £950.00 |
| Chelmsford | £391.51 | £650.00 | £795.00 | £984.98 | £1,295.01 |
| Cheltenham | £341.49 | £550.02 | £695.02 | £850.02 | £1,194.98 |
| Cherwell Valley | £339.02 | £650.00 | £775.02 | £899.99 | £1,297.53 |
| Chesterfield | £242.25 | £389.99 | £449.99 | £550.02 | £725.00 |
| Chichester | £341.49 | £650.00 | £824.99 | £995.02 | £1,349.98 |
| Chilterns | £389.99 | £749.99 | £974.98 | £1,249.99 | £1,650.02 |
| Colchester | £309.99 | £524.99 | £689.98 | £850.02 | £1,100.00 |
| Coventry | £336.76 | £490.01 | £575.01 | £674.99 | £875.00 |
| Crawley & Reigate | £441.52 | £749.99 | £950.00 | £1,199.98 | £1,549.99 |
| Darlington | £288.96 | £330.89 | £399.98 | £495.01 | £660.00 |
| Derby | £273.01 | £394.98 | £500.01 | £594.99 | £795.00 |
| Doncaster | £267.23 | £374.99 | £440.00 | £485.02 | £655.00 |
| Dover-Shepway | £282.44 | £435.00 | £575.01 | £749.99 | £899.99 |
| Durham | £282.44 | £324.98 | £379.99 | £449.99 | £609.98 |
| East Cheshire | £360.00 | £495.01 | £599.99 | £824.99 | £1,300.01 |
| East Lancs | £279.18 | £369.35 | £425.01 | £499.70 | £695.02 |
| East Thames Valley | £449.99 | £800.00 | £1,000.01 | £1,274.98 | £1,600.00 |
| Eastbourne | £325.07 | £599.99 | £764.98 | £899.99 | £1,199.98 |
| Eastern Staffordshire | £291.48 | £425.01 | £524.99 | £625.02 | £795.00 |
| Exeter | £420.01 | £570.01 | £679.99 | £824.99 | £1,100.00 |
| Fylde Coast | £282.44 | £369.35 | £498.01 | £575.01 | £651.79 |
| Gloucester | £341.49 | £449.99 | £599.99 | £749.99 | £950.00 |
| Grantham & Newark | £369.35 | £374.99 | £485.02 | £575.01 | £795.00 |
| Greater Liverpool | £283.53 | £399.98 | £469.98 | £524.99 | £677.86 |
| Grimsby | £272.66 | £334.58 | £430.00 | £449.99 | £619.98 |
| Guildford | £490.01 | £850.02 | £1,100.00 | £1,375.01 | £1,800.01 |
| Halifax | £306.34 | £374.99 | £449.99 | £524.99 | £650.00 |
| Harlow & Stortford | £332.41 | £720.01 | £899.99 | £1,124.98 | £1,300.01 |
| Harrogate | £325.89 | £524.99 | £665.00 | £795.00 | £1,070.01 |
| Herefordshire | £336.97 | £425.01 | £550.02 | £679.99 | £894.99 |
| High Weald | £435.00 | £695.02 | £899.99 | £1,129.98 | £1,500.02 |
| Hull & East Riding | £304.17 | £347.62 | £399.98 | £475.02 | £599.99 |
| Huntingdon | £285.00 | £565.01 | £700.02 | £824.99 | £1,100.00 |
| Inner East London | £593.13 | £1,324.99 | £1,600.00 | £1,999.98 | £2,545.01 |
| Inner North London | £640.01 | £1,380.00 | £1,660.01 | £2,150.89 | £2,802.50 |
| Inner South East London | £516.52 | £1,150.01 | £1,349.98 | £1,675.00 | £2,199.99 |
| Inner South West London | £508.00 | £1,300.01 | £1,549.99 | £1,950.01 | £2,700.00 |
| Inner West London | £625.02 | £1,208.02 | £1,474.99 | £1,949.01 | £2,320.01 |
| Ipswich | £309.99 | £490.01 | £609.98 | £715.01 | £894.99 |
| Isle of Wight | £310.68 | £449.99 | £575.01 | £725.00 | £894.99 |
| Kendal | £295.48 | £495.01 | £599.99 | £725.00 | £850.02 |
| Kernow West | £351.83 | £495.01 | £625.02 | £735.00 | £925.01 |
| Kings Lynn | £285.00 | £449.99 | £575.01 | £674.99 | £850.02 |
| Kirklees | £245.51 | £369.35 | £449.99 | £550.02 | £705.01 |
| Lancaster | £305.25 | £420.01 | £524.99 | £599.99 | £700.02 |
| Leeds | £287.48 | £524.99 | £594.99 | £700.02 | £899.99 |
| Leicester | £338.93 | £449.99 | £565.01 | £674.99 | £894.99 |
| Lincoln | £287.87 | £425.01 | £510.00 | £575.01 | £749.99 |
| Lincolnshire Fens | £288.96 | £435.00 | £575.01 | £650.00 | £749.99 |
| Lowestoft & Great Yarmouth | £354.14 | £399.76 | £505.00 | £550.02 | £725.00 |
| Luton | £341.49 | £625.02 | £775.02 | £974.98 | £1,150.01 |
| Maidstone | £386.07 | £650.00 | £814.99 | £974.98 | £1,249.99 |
| Medway & Swale | £316.51 | £594.99 | £749.99 | £850.02 | £1,199.98 |
| Mendip | £325.89 | £485.02 | £625.02 | £780.01 | £1,000.01 |
| Mid & East Devon | £367.17 | £449.99 | £594.99 | £725.00 | £899.99 |
| Mid & West Dorset | £347.62 | £519.99 | £650.00 | £795.00 | £1,049.98 |
| Mid Staffs | £291.48 | £425.01 | £550.02 | £650.00 | £850.02 |
| Milton Keynes | £304.17 | £650.00 | £824.99 | £974.98 | £1,300.01 |
| Newbury | £341.49 | £674.99 | £837.50 | £1,049.98 | £1,399.99 |
| North Cheshire | £288.96 | £425.01 | £500.01 | £594.99 | £875.00 |
| North Cornwall & Devon Borders | £304.17 | £425.01 | £534.99 | £650.00 | £800.00 |
| North Cumbria | £295.48 | £350.01 | £425.01 | £524.99 | £674.99 |
| North Devon | £300.00 | £425.01 | £550.02 | £650.00 | £795.00 |
| North Nottingham | £288.96 | £350.01 | £449.99 | £475.02 | £674.99 |
| North West Kent | £386.07 | £674.99 | £850.02 | £1,049.98 | £1,300.01 |
| North West London | £491.49 | £1,000.01 | £1,249.99 | £1,549.99 | £1,849.99 |
| Northampton | £388.90 | £550.02 | £695.02 | £800.00 | £1,020.00 |
| Northants Central | £347.62 | £475.02 | £599.99 | £695.02 | £894.99 |
| Northumberland | £321.11 | £340.01 | £394.98 | £475.02 | £700.02 |
| Nottingham | £350.01 | £469.98 | £550.02 | £625.02 | £800.00 |
| Oldham & Rochdale | £288.48 | £394.98 | £451.25 | £550.02 | £695.02 |
| Outer East London | £491.49 | £1,049.98 | £1,300.01 | £1,549.99 | £1,800.01 |
| Outer North East London | £441.52 | £899.99 | £1,150.01 | £1,375.01 | £1,730.01 |
| Outer North London | £491.49 | £1,069.97 | £1,300.01 | £1,600.00 | £1,900.00 |
| Outer South East London | £449.99 | £894.99 | £1,100.00 | £1,300.01 | £1,600.00 |
| Outer South London | £449.99 | £875.00 | £1,100.00 | £1,375.01 | £1,735.01 |
| Outer South West London | £508.00 | £1,049.98 | £1,324.99 | £1,600.00 | £2,149.98 |
| Outer West London | £500.01 | £925.01 | £1,175.00 | £1,399.99 | £1,650.02 |
| Oxford | £516.52 | £775.02 | £912.50 | £1,100.00 | £1,585.01 |
| Peaks & Dales | £304.99 | £424.53 | £524.99 | £625.02 | £749.99 |
| Peterborough | £285.00 | £480.02 | £594.99 | £695.02 | £899.99 |
| Plymouth | £319.38 | £449.99 | £585.00 | £695.02 | £850.02 |
| Portsmouth | £342.45 | £585.00 | £725.00 | £875.00 | £1,199.98 |
| Reading | £389.99 | £795.00 | £950.00 | £1,150.01 | £1,549.99 |
| Richmond & Hambleton | £325.89 | £399.98 | £500.01 | £594.99 | £749.99 |
| Rotherham | £267.23 | £374.99 | £425.01 | £480.02 | £684.98 |
| Rugby & East | £366.52 | £524.99 | £640.01 | £749.99 | £995.02 |
| Salisbury | £361.09 | £575.01 | £725.00 | £850.02 | £1,100.00 |
| Scarborough | £284.61 | £374.99 | £485.02 | £560.01 | £650.00 |
| Scunthorpe | £243.33 | £324.98 | £449.99 | £485.02 | £594.99 |
| Sheffield | £285.00 | £475.02 | £524.99 | £575.01 | £814.99 |
| Shropshire | £325.89 | £399.98 | £524.99 | £625.02 | £795.00 |
| Solihull | £371.52 | £575.01 | £725.00 | £875.00 | £1,199.98 |
| South Cheshire | £260.71 | £394.98 | £495.01 | £594.99 | £824.99 |
| South Devon | £282.44 | £449.99 | £599.99 | £730.00 | £899.99 |
| South East Herts | £356.48 | £749.99 | £925.01 | £1,199.98 | £1,399.99 |
| South West Essex | £333.02 | £700.02 | £875.00 | £1,075.01 | £1,332.51 |
| South West Herts | £416.49 | £800.00 | £1,000.01 | £1,300.01 | £1,699.99 |
| Southampton | £336.50 | £594.99 | £775.02 | £925.01 | £1,199.98 |
| Southend | £321.50 | £599.99 | £795.00 | £1,000.01 | £1,300.01 |
| Southern Greater Manchester | £359.83 | £524.99 | £650.00 | £749.99 | £1,100.00 |
| Southport | £332.41 | £408.45 | £539.98 | £665.00 | £824.99 |
| St Helens | £282.44 | £374.99 | £440.00 | £550.02 | £744.99 |
| Staffordshire North | £264.84 | £374.99 | £425.01 | £550.02 | £744.99 |
| Stevenage & North Herts | £341.49 | £674.99 | £850.02 | £1,049.98 | £1,300.01 |
| Sunderland | £275.92 | £389.99 | £434.52 | £495.01 | £643.88 |
| Sussex East | £324.98 | £500.01 | £650.00 | £850.02 | £1,000.01 |
| Swindon | £341.49 | £550.02 | £660.00 | £795.00 | £1,000.01 |
| Tameside & Glossop | £286.09 | £399.98 | £495.01 | £594.99 | £749.99 |
| Taunton & West Somerset | £367.17 | £449.99 | £594.99 | £715.01 | £899.99 |
| Teesside | £282.44 | £374.99 | £433.00 | £499.70 | £674.99 |
| Thanet | £300.00 | £475.02 | £650.00 | £800.00 | £950.00 |
| Tyneside | £304.99 | £425.01 | £475.02 | £550.02 | £795.00 |
| Wakefield | £267.23 | £394.98 | £475.02 | £524.99 | £749.99 |
| Walton | £476.72 | £850.02 | £1,100.00 | £1,349.98 | £1,769.99 |
| Warwickshire South | £371.52 | £625.02 | £749.99 | £899.99 | £1,199.98 |
| West Cheshire | £318.29 | £449.99 | £550.02 | £650.00 | £894.99 |
| West Cumbria | £295.48 | £350.01 | £420.01 | £495.01 | £599.99 |
| West Pennine | £303.34 | £350.01 | £389.99 | £449.99 | £650.00 |
| West Wiltshire | £341.49 | £519.99 | £650.00 | £795.00 | £1,000.01 |
| Weston-S-Mare | £430.44 | £475.02 | £599.99 | £749.99 | £925.01 |
| Wigan | £266.49 | £350.01 | £449.99 | £499.01 | £674.99 |
| Winchester | £362.83 | £725.00 | £860.01 | £1,100.00 | £1,600.00 |
| Wirral | £239.08 | £374.99 | £449.99 | £550.02 | £725.00 |
| Wolds and Coast | £301.47 | £360.00 | £452.51 | £529.99 | £599.99 |
| Worcester North | £288.96 | £440.00 | £550.63 | £650.00 | £850.02 |
| Worcester South | £366.17 | £500.01 | £625.02 | £749.99 | £950.00 |
| Worthing | £310.68 | £625.02 | £800.00 | £969.99 | £1,249.99 |
| Yeovil | £334.58 | £440.00 | £575.01 | £725.00 | £925.01 |
| York | £325.89 | £544.98 | £650.00 | £725.00 | £1,049.98 |
[1] Please note that the rates provided on this webpage will not yet have updated to the 30th percentile as announced by the government on 20 March 2020. However, the area you live in and home size you’re entitled to will remain the same.