Important Changes to Housing Benefit

From 7 April 2008, a new way of calculating housing benefit for those tenants renting accommodation from a private landlord will be introduced, called Local Housing Allowance.

Tenants living in housing association accommodation, are not affected by this change.

Local Housing Allowance will apply to:

· New housing benefit claims from people moving into privately rented accommodation.
· People who have a break in their claim of a week or more.
· People who move rooms within a property.

Local Housing Allowance is not based on the property in which you live. It is based on:

· who lives with you
· which area you live in.

Mid Beds residents can get an idea of how much benefit we can pay before they make their claim, by checking the Local Housing Allowance rates on our website - www.midbeds.gov.uk/Council_Tax_Benefits/Housing_Benefit/Local_Housing_Allowance/default.aspx

Mid Beds will use the Local Housing Allowance rates to calculate how much benefit residents qualify for. The rate of entitlement may reduce depending on income, savings and circumstances.

In most cases, we will make the housing benefit payments straight to the claimant and not the landlord. 

If you would like to know more about the Local Housing Allowance, please contact the Customer Accounts Section on 01462 611200 or email them at: customer.accounts@midbeds.gov.uk