Could anyone help with the following questions

1) I note that in April the pilot LHA regulations will change to match more of the national scheme. Can someone explain the differences between the National LHA scheme and pilot schemes from April 08? I have checked the transitional protection for the £15 payment but I am still confused about room sizes etc and other differences

2) Are councils required to publish the LHA rates and if so where can they be found?

3) Charities that provide both accomodation and care for their tenants are excluded from LHA. This is straightforward for schemes where supporting people payments are made but what if a charity provided the care without receiving supporting people payments? If they claimed exclusion from LHA, might a housing benefit office claim that the rent had been incorrectly charged, as the care element should be identified separately from the rent? However, if the charity paid the 'care' element out of charitable funds and did not include it in the rent, could this enable the scheme to remain outside LHA?

".... Are councils required to publish the LHA rates and if so where can they be found?......"

They are, and many are putting them on their websites - but failing that, contact your local friendly HB section, preferable their training officer, who will happily answer any queries you may have .....

We have found that the rates for our patch are in fact slightly better than the rents being current being set by the RO under the old scheme - the only one which may cause problems is the single room rate .....

Stockport have published their LHA rates on their Website.
All are higher than the current RO restrictions; some are substantially higher.

The HB section have also issued guidance on how claimants can break their claim to benefit from the better rates.

Victor

Victor,
Interested to read your comments re the "breaking the claim" as we recently attended a meeting with our local District Council (very nice chaps and chapesess) who appeared to be saying they would vigouresly fight any break in claim who's sole purpose appeared to be to change the status from old rule, RO, to new rules LHA.
Would welcome details of the HBen depts guidance.
Thanks a lot

Our HB office have now received guidance from the DWP and reviewed their policy. They now say claimants are not allowed to break their claim to switch to LHA.

I wonder what they are going to do with the the claimant who have already switched...

Victor

I think, from what I can glean, this is now the accepted policy of all LA Benfits sections, the unfortunate aspect is that it is going to be quite difficult to get a claimant to challege the policy (unless there is a "friendly" landlord)
The 3 or 4 that I am currently dealing with under the old rules are in the process of changing properties!

Sun 30-Mar-08 06:11 PM by Kevin D

3) Charities that provide both accomodation and care for their tenants are excluded from LHA. This is straightforward for schemes where supporting people payments are made but what if a charity provided the care without receiving supporting people payments? If they claimed exclusion from LHA, might a housing benefit office claim that the rent had been incorrectly charged, as the care element should be identified separately from the rent? However, if the charity paid the 'care' element out of charitable funds and did not include it in the rent, could this enable the scheme to remain outside LHA?

"Exempt accommodation" (EA) cases are not subject to LHA - there is no change to "exempt accom" cases. In short, if it EA now, it will be EA from April.

As to the issue of "supporting people payments", that in itself is not the test as to whether "care, support or supervision" is provided by, or on behalf of, the landlord. The tests are about reality and can be summarised as follows:

1) Are services provided to the claimant that can genuinely be described as "care, support or supervision" (CSS); AND is it more than minimal?

2) If so, is CSS provided by the landlord, or on behalf of the landlord?

3) If so, is the L/L a HA / charity / voluntary organisation?


If all the above hurdles are passed, then the claim should fall within the "exempt accommodation" exception. However, this does not automatically mean the LA cannot restrict, but that's a subject in its own right....

It doesn't matter how the L/L charges its rent. What counts is the reality of the situation.

My advice, for what it's worth, is to be straightforward and transparent about your charges and services. If CSS costs are being met out of charitable funds and not being passed on to the tenant, simply advise the LA accordingly. But, the LA may still want details of what is being provided by way of CSS to ensure the exempt accommodation definition is met.

Hope this helps.

In answer to your first question, that is pretty much it in terms of the differences. The point about numbers of rooms is that only bedrooms will be looked at in terms of deciding which LHA category should apply, rather than bedrooms and living rooms as now. So for example, what was the "2-room" rate now becomes the "1 bedroom" rate.

Existing claimants in the Pathfinder areas will get to keep their existing LHA entitlement if it is higher than what they would get from April. This entitlement will be "uncapped" (i.e. the "extra" can be more than £15pw) until April next year. BUT all this goes by the by if they have a change of circs which affects LHA, or they move, in which case transitional protection is lost.

LHA rates for each and every and every authority are now available to the public via the Rent Service website.

http://www.lha-direct.org

This ruling that an HB recipient cannot break their HB claim just to get on to LHA is very harsh for people with a shortfall that they must meet from their other benefit income. We had a recent case of a single disabled man in his fifties who rents a room in a private house, shared facilities. His rent is £100 a week, his HB is £80 a week plus a temporary discretionary payment of £10 a week, leaving a £10 a week shortfall which could rise to £20 if the LA stops the discretionary payment. Under LHA he is entitled to the local rate for a 1 bed flat which is £150 a week. If he was a new HB claimant for his present accommodation he would get £115 a week. But to get LHA the council says he must have a change of circumstances - in practice the only option would be that he would have to move. This would be a huge upheaval for him and he is incensed that he is treated so much more badly than new claimants. Any ideas what he could do?

Could he switch rooms within the house? That would satisfy the requirement of a change of address.

The advice from DWP is that a HB claim, once decided, cannot simply be withdrawn by the claimant. There have to be grounds for a supercession or revision of the decision to award benefit. The legislation seems to back this up.

There is however massive inconsistency in this matter with different councils doing different things. It is almost certain to be challenged either at tribunal or JR at some point but in the meantime the practical options are limited to moving. The only other possibility that I have heard suggested is to state that you no longer wish to claim which should lead to a suspension of benefit because of a question over entitlement. You then wait out the calendar month you will be given to supply further information, which in turn leads to a termination. Then you reapply. But it's not much of an option to lose a month's HB, clearly.