Any quick advice on family members sharing tenancy - LHA rates etc. 

One of our clients and his brother are living in T/A and want to move out ASAP. They’ve found a two bed in Manchester and we’re trying to get the council housing them to pay an incentive as the first month’s rent and deposit. I sent the council my estimated workings out of what they’d receive in housing costs from UC, if their entitlement to UC remains as is (both only on standard allowance, no earnings), and the council officer has said this needs to be confirmed for them to go ahead. I think the council should just be able to advise him directly, but he’s so desperate to get out of this hotel, and it doesn’t seem that the council will take much persuading. Could anyone help me with what I’ve said and if it’s at all correct?

The monthly rent for the flat is £1150, and the flat is within the Central Greater Manchester BRMA.

1. If both brothers were named on the tenancy agreement as joint tenants, UC would consider them each liable for half of the rent, but as both are under 35, they would receive £410.45 each, totalling £820.90, so a monthly shortfall of £329.10.

2. If only one brother were named on the tenancy agreement as a tenant, and the other named as an occupier, then the named tenant should be entitled to the two-bedroom LHA rate, meaning a total of £872.60 for the housing element, and a lower monthly shortfall of £277.40.

Thanks in advance!

There is also a £91.47 housing costs contribution for the non-dependent brother, unless he is still under 21 or otherwise exempt from HCCs.  That would make the shortfall even higher if you go with the sole tenancy option.

thank you, completely forgot about that :/ the first example, if they’re both tenants, is correct though right?

Near enough, but it’s £411.58.

I think you converted the weekly LHA x52/12, but /7 x 365 / 12 gets a closer result.  Both HB and UC LHA rates this year are based on a fresh set of 30th percentile data.  It looks to me as if they have done an exact conversion of one or the other for every LHA rate, depending whether the rent occupying the 30th percentile point was weekly or monthly.

For example, the 2-bed UC rate in central GM is exactly £875, which looks to me as if it is the real-life data point.  The weekly HB LHA is £201.37, which does not look like the sort of rent a landlord would advertise and is the amount you get if you start with 875 and convert to a week by the x12 / 365 x 7 method.

Whereas in Leeds, the weekly shared accommodation rate is £80 and the monthly rate is £347.62, suggesting the latter was derived from the former.

Official monthly rates are published here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/universal-credit-local-housing-allowance-rates-2024-to-2025

So, an extra quid a week for each of your clients.