Room entitlement

Local housing allowance is based on how many bedrooms you and your household need. You are allowed one bedroom for:

• A couple
• An adult aged 16 or over
• Any two children of the same sex under the age of 16
• Any two children under the age of 10
• A child under 16

Please note foster children are currently not counted when assessing the room entitlement.

There is also a shared room rate which applies to under 25s and may also apply to certain tenants over the age of 25 where they do not have exclusive use of the accommodation and the use of other facilities in the property.

There are also extra rules which may affect your room entitlement if you are:

• A care leaver aged under 22
• Under 25 and in receipt of severe disability premium

From 5 December 2005 same sex couples who have formed a civil partnership or are living together as if they have a civil partnership are treated the same way as opposite sex couples who are married or are living together as husband and wife.

From 6 April 2009 there are changes to the way LHA is calculated for large families:

• New claimants who make a claim for Housing Benefit for a house consisting of six or more bedrooms will only be entitled to an LHA rate of five bedrooms, which will be the maximum payable
• Existing claimants already in receipt of the LHA rate for six or more bedrooms will continue to receive that rate until their claim is reviewed (usually at the anniversary date of their claim), after which their claim will be re-assessed at the five bedroom rate. However, for the first 26 weeks after the review (known as the transitions period), the LHA rate payable will be maintained at the higher rate that was paid to them before the review

Where there is a change in address, the claim will be reviewed and the appropriate five bedroom LHA rate of the new property will become payable.

If you are not sure whether your circumstances affects the amount of rooms you are entitled to please contact us and we will work this out for you (please note the actual amount of local housing allowance you are entitled to receive will also depend on your income, savings and circumstances).

To work out your room entitlement, please visit our room calculator page.