The National Landlords Association (NLA) has called on the new coalition government to make changes to the way the local housing allowance (LHA) is distributed.

According to  Directgov.co.uk website “If you are a private tenant renting property or room from a private landlord and you are on a low income, you may be able to claim and receive Local Housing Allowance. The payment will normally be made to you straight to your bank account or by cheque. Payment is not normally made to your landlord.”

The government has already promised to tackle this problem, with rent arrears waste counting millions of pounds. Indeed, Public affairs officer at the NLA Vincenzo Rampulla stated “that it would be an easy step for the government to take for landlords to be able to receive LHA directly from their tenants”. The NLA is only asking ministers to give LHA tenants the same choice available to most people when they set up a direct debit or standing order for their rent,” he added.

“LHA is one of the most important, and potentially damaging, issues currently facing the private-rented sector”, according to NLA. In fact, introduced in 2008 to replace Housing Benefit, LHA aim was to give power to tenants and provide them greater choice for benefit recipients. In reality according to the NLA, “it has led to a reduction in available housing stock and compelled many landlords to leave the market.”

In 2009 NLA research found that 949 landlords had lost £4.229 million from LHA-based rental arrears.

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