If you live in privately-rented accommodation and are entitled to housing benefit the amount you receive will be worked out using the local housing allowance rates.
The amount of benefit you get depends on:
- who lives with you
- where you live
- how much money you have coming in
- what savings you have
- how much rent you pay
- your age
Local housing allowance rates
We use the local housing allowance rates that are set by the rent service. The current weekly rates for April 2015 to March 2016 are:
- 1 bedroom (shared accommodation): £61.45
- 1 bedroom (self-contained accommodation): £92.98
- 2 bedroom accommodation: £116.52
- 3 bedroom accommodation: £135.35
- 4 bedroom accommodation: £184.11
The maximum rate is four bedrooms, even if a household would be entitled to more than four bedrooms.
Calculate how many bedrooms you are eligible for
Number of bedrooms allowed
The number of people who live with you is used to work out how many bedrooms you're entitled to. You’re entitled to one bedroom for:
- every adult couple
- any other adult aged 16 or over
- any two children aged under 10
- any two children of the same sex aged under 16
- any other child (under 16)
Single people under 35
A single person under 35, with no dependants, will only be entitled to the one bedroom (shared accommodation) rate.
Additional bedroom
An additional bedroom may be allowed for registered foster carers, non-resident overnight carer or a severely disabled child who is unable to share with another child.
Note: You can only have a maximum of four bedrooms allowed under the size criteria.
If you are unsure about how the size criteria may be measured for your household, email the housing benefit team: benefits@norwich.gov.uk