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Question
Benefits - How does LHA differ from Housing Benefits?

Answer
The main difference between the two types of Benefit is the way the entitlement is the way your rent is taken into account.

With housing benefit, details of the property and the amount you are paying in rent are sent to the Rent Service. They then make a decision as to what rent the property should be attracting. This value is then used to calculate your benefit entitlement instead of the amount you are actually paying.

For Local Housing Allowance, the rent service calculates standard rental values according to the rental market average for different size properties within your area.

For more information on these benefits please see our housing benefit and local housing allowance pages.

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