About local housing allowance

From April 7^th, 2008 new applications for help with rent will be assessed for LHA. Applicants already claiming Housing Benefits who change address after this date will also be assessed for LHA.

Why LHA is being introduced

LHA introduces a flat rate allowance based on the number of bedrooms each customer requires. This means that customers with similar circumstances living in the same area will receive equal amounts of Housing Benefit.

How LHA is calculated

The calculation begins with looking at how many rooms your household needs and the average rent for that size property in the area. This is known as the Broad Market Rental Area (BRMA).

Once this has been determined your income and capital are taken into account before it is established whether you will qualify and how much you will receive.

You can use our Benefit Calculator to get a rough estimate as to whether you could qualify and how much you could receive.

West Oxfordshire District Council's BRMA's

The BRMA's are set by the Rent Service based on post code areas.

WODC has three BRMA's covering our area. You can find out which BRMA your property is in by viewing the map available in the downloads area or by visiting the LHA Direct website.

The rates change each month. The month your application is assessed will set the BRMA rate for the following 12 months.

The rates for September are;

Monthly Rates

	Bedrooms
	Shared	1	2	3	4	5
Oxford	369.98	675.00	824.97	949.99	1299.99	1719.97
Cherwell	350.00	524.98	650.00	750.01	1100.01	1519.99
Cheltenham	268.66	524.98	650.00	794.99	1199.98	1465.00

Weekly Rates

	Bedrooms
	Shared	1	2	3	4	5
Oxford	85.38	155.77	190.38	219.23	300.00	396.92
Cherwell	80.77	121.15	150.00	173.08	253.85	350.77
Cheltenham	62.00	121.15	150.00	183.46	276.92	338.08

The rates for August were;

Monthly Rates

	Bedrooms
	Shared	1	2	3	4	5
Oxford	369.98	650.00	830.00	949.99	1299.99	1710.01
Cherwell	350.00	524.98	650.00	750.01	1100.01	1539.97
Cheltenham	271.00	524.98	650.00	794.99	1149.97	1350.00

Weekly Rates

	Bedrooms
	Shared	1	2	3	4	5
Oxford	85.38	150.00	191.54	219.23	300.00	394.62
Cherwell	80.77	121.15	150.00	173.08	253.85	355.38
Cheltenham	62.54	121.15	150.00	183.46	265.38	311.54

The rates for July are;

Monthly Rates

	Bedrooms
	Shared	1	2	3	4	5
Oxford	390.00	650.00	824.98	924.99	1300.00	1700.01
Cherwell	350.00	530.01	650.00	767.52	995.02	1539.98
Cheltenham	271.01	524.98	650.00	780.00	1125.02	1300.00

Weekly Rates

	Bedrooms
	Shared	1	2	3	4	5
Oxford	90.00	150.00	190.38	213.46	300.00	392.31
Cherwell	80.77	122.31	150.00	177.12	229.62	355.38
Cheltenham	62.54	121.15	150.00	180.00	259.62	300.00