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 1 October 2008 for all new claims where families have an entitlement of more than 5 bedrooms the LHA rate will be capped at a maximum of the 5 bedroom rate. For current LHA claims where there is an entitlement to more than the 5 bedroom rate, these cases will be reviewed at the first anniversary of their claim, although no decision has yet been made by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) on when these claimants will see a reduction in their rate.

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.