The government has announced a number of measures to help people during the current COVID-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak
Increase in Local Housing Allowance rates
The government has increased the Local Housing Allowance rates from April 2020 to cover up to 30% of the market rent in your area. You can see the new rates on the Local Housing Allowance rates page
We have updated all the affected claims with the new rates. If your Housing Benefit is calculated based on the Local Housing Allowance rates your benefit will go up. We will write and let you know if your benefit has changed. You can check your benefit claim on MyRevenues.
Increase in Earnings Disregards
The government has introduced changes to the Housing Benefit legislation for people who work and receive Housing Benefit. If you or your partner (where one is present in the household) work 16 hours or more per week, the amount of your earnings we ignore in your Housing Benefit calculation has increased by £20 a week from April 2020.
The basic rate of Working Tax Credit is also increasing by £20 a week, so if you receive Working Tax Credits this will cover the extra money you receive and means your Housing Benefit will not go down. You may even receive some extra Housing Benefit until Tax Credits tell us about your change.
We have updated all the affected claims with the new rates. We will write and let you know if your benefit has changed. You can check your benefit claim on MyRevenues.