Transcript LA LHA Guidance April 2007

Housing Benefit Reform
Broad Rental Market Areas and the
Median Local Housing Allowance
This presentation will cover
How rent officers determine
– the Broad Rental Market Area [BRMA]
– the Local Housing Allowance [LHA]
• How rent officers are working with local authorities
This presentation will not cover
What rent officers will continue to do, for
example
– Process referrals and make determinations:
- Significantly High Rent
- Size Notional
- Exceptionally High Rent
- Single Room Rent
- Local Reference Rent
Local Housing Allowance
• Broad Rental Market Area
• LHA set each month
• Flat Rate According to Household Size &
Location
• Set locally by Rent Officers based on Local rents
• Rates Published so Tenants know how much will
get
• Clearer for Tenants & Landlords
What isn’t included in the LHA?
These exceptions to LHA will continue to
be dealt with by rent officers using the
current methods
Houseboats
Moorings
Caravans
Site Rents
Mobile Homes
Hostels
Housing Associations
Board & Attendance
• If the RO decides that the amount of rent for B&A
is substantial they tell you and then process the
case under the existing HB rules – SHR, Size,
EHR, LRR, SRR, etc
• Normal RRS target times start from the date they
determined that B&A was substantial (the
“relevant period”) – not the referral date
• If the RO decides that the amount of rent for B&A
is NOT substantial they will tell you that the
appropriate LHA applies for that tenancy.
Size Criteria
• The tenants is entitled to one bedroom
for:
• every adult couple (married or unmarried)
• any other adult aged 16 or over
• any two children of the same sex aged
under 16
• any two children regardless of sex aged
under 10
• any other child.
Reviewing the BRMA
• RRS plan to carry out a programme of
fundamental reviews
• Local rent officers will carry out research
and analysis of existing localities, data
collection and its use, and where
appropriate make recommendations for
change
The Review Process
They meet with the local authority, explain
the exercise being undertaken and seek
their views. The RRS local authority
contacts are encouraged to involve others,
for example the Housing Strategy and/or
Homelessness officers and not limit the
consultation to the HB staff. The rent
officers findings are shared with the local
authority for further consultation.
The Review Process
• The review includes site visits to the
locality/BRMA under review to carry out field
research and consultations.
• Local residents and business people,
including property professionals, are
consulted in towns and villages pertinent to
the limits of the locality. This information
helps to build an understanding of how the
various communities interact and how the
distinct areas of residential accommodation
are bound together.
Definition of BRMA
(a) comprising two or more distinct areas of
residential accommodation, each distinct area of
residential accommodation adjoining at least one
other in the area;
b) within which a person could reasonably be
expected to live having regard to facilities and
services for the purposes of health, education,
recreation, personal banking and shopping,
taking account of the distance of travel, by public
and private transport, to and from facilities and
services of the same type and similar standard.
c) containing residential premises of a
variety of types, and including such
premises held on a variety of tenancies.
Determining the BRMA
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Health
Education
Recreation
Banks
Shopping
Health
Rent officers will, for example, identify
and map:
• Hospitals
• GP surgeries
• Dentists
• Opticians
• Pharmacists
• Any other relevant facilities
Education
Rent officers will, for example, identify
and map:
• Nurseries
• Primary Schools
• Secondary Schools
• Colleges
• Universities
Recreation
Rent officers will identify and map, for
example:
• Local facilities such as parks
• Sports centres and clubs
• Professional sporting venues
• Theatres
• Any specific local attraction
Banking & Shopping
Rent officers plan to identify:
• Availability of banks and ATM points
• Convenience stores
• Supermarkets
Rent officers will identify and map:
• Post Offices
• Major retail centres
Standard of Services – use established
criteria
• Useful educational indicator sources
include:
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•
Scottish Schools Online
HMIE inspection reports
Good schools guide
Scottish Qualifications Authority
BRMA Determinations
We provide the Local Authority with:
• The level 4 postcodes for each BRMA, or
parts of a BRMA, in its area.
The Local Housing Allowance
• Collect lettings information from all of the
private rented sector within the BRMA
• Ensure the information used to determine the
LHA is representative of the local PRS market
• Access all markets & use all available data to
ensure that the stability of the market is
reflected in the LHA
• It is a median and is described by the number
of bedrooms
So What is a Median
LHA
The median rent is the rent that is
halfway up the distribution of all
rents in an area.
• If there are an odd number of
rental incidents, the median will
be the one at the middle
– Unlike the LRR the number of pieces of
information is critical
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•
£50.00
£60.00
£90.00
£95.00
£105.00
£105.00
£150.00
£150.00
£150.00
£200.00
£200.00
Even
£127.50
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£50.00
£60.00
£90.00
£95.00
£105.00
£105.00
•
•
•
•
•
•
£150.00
£150.00
£200.00
£200.00
£200.00
£260.00
The
Median
LHA
• The median
rent is the
rent that is
halfway up
the
distribution of
all rents in an
area.
Odd
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•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
£50.00
£60.00
£90.00
£95.00
£105.00
£105.00 £105.00
£150.00
£150.00
£200.00
£200.00
£200.00
Payment
•
•
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Direct to claimant
Promoting bank accounts
2 weekly in arrears
BACS or crossed cheque
8 weeks arrears
Data Protection
£15 Limit
Safeguards
• Recognised risk that some tenants can
struggle with handling their financial affairs
/ paying their rent
• Each case assessed on its own merits
• Short term – regular reviews
• Referred by landlord or other third party
Payments
In recognition that for some tenants this
will be the first time that they will take
responsibility for paying their rent,
your Council will help with Money
Management advice etc.
Payments
• Help to access to bank accounts
• Basic Financial literacy i.e. how to use an
account to set up direct debits etc
• Signposting to detailed specialist advice
e.g. debt/money management
• Provide Support for tenants
E-deliver
A joint project between:
 The Rent Service for England
 The Rent Registration Service for Scotland
 The Rent Officer Service for Wales
Funded by DWP
.
E-deliver
The purpose is to:

Deliver maps of the BRMA, including
postcodes

Deliver the monthly LHA as a weekly
and calendar monthly figure

Collect the data from the local
authority for failed and successful
claims.
E-Delivery – Data Flows
 Wales and Scotland will submit BRMA maps to TRS to
create a centralised map with data loaded from the
respective Agency databases to the web portal.
 LAs will be able to view and navigate maps using pan and
zoom functionality.
 LAs will be able to down load LHA rates and BRMA
definitions manually or automatically populate their
databases from the portal using a web-service.
 LAs will be able to download maps in many formats.
 A simple postcode look up facility will be provided to the
general public to check LHA rates for a given area.
Timetable
• OCT 2007 The provision of indicative
LHA’S to all local authorities
• JAN 2008 The publication of the BRMA’S
and provision of provisional LHA’S
• MAR 2008 the live BRMA’S AND LHA’S to
all local authorities
To summarise the RRS is • Determining, mapping and publishing broad
rental market areas
• Collecting lettings information that is
representative of the markets local to the
BRMA
• Consulting customers and stakeholders
• Providing a transparent service
• CONTACT DETAILS
• Rent Officer:- John Gibson
[email protected]
• Senior Rent Officer:- Dave Ritchie
Tel:-01382 309000