Rates guide

In each broad rental market area (BRMA) there is a set of rates on which a claim is based depending on the household of the person making a claim. The lowest rate is the shared room rate and from 4 April 2011 the highest is capped at the four bedroom rate.

This means where families have an entitlement of five or more bedrooms the LHA rate will be restricted to the four bedroom rate. For details of this and other changes to the scheme from April 2011 please visit the changes to local allowance page.

In Plymouth there is one broad rental market area which means that if the Rent Service decides the Local Housing Allowance rate for a two bedroom dwelling is, for example, £121.15 per week, this figure applies to all cases assessed with Local Housing Allowance that have a two bedroom need throughout the whole of the city.

From April 2012 all LHA rates will 'freeze' for a period of twelve months. This means that LHA rates will no longer be published each month. Instead any new claims, changes or your next LHA review will use the April 2012 rates. From April 2013 the LHA rates will increase by the Consumer Price Index and all claims will be recalculated each April.

To view the current rates, please visit our current rates page.

To find out your room entitlement please visit our room entitlement page.