West London Letstart helps private landlords by providing a free website to advertise available properties. The website will be used by tenants that are looking particularly at this end of the market because they use the Local Housing Allowance to pay the rent with. This effectively places a limit on what the tenants can afford.
Local Housing Allowance
Changes to the way households receive benefit payments were introduced in April 2008. Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is a new way of working out new claims for Housing Benefit (HB) for tenants renting accommodation from a private landlord.
Local Housing Allowance is:
- the amount of money a household may receive from the local authority so that they can pay the rent
- determined by the number of bedrooms a households needs
- the average rent for properties of that size in a geographical area (Broad Market Rental Area)
- LHA levels are reviewed and published monthly by the Government's Rent Service. (Please note that the rent payable on a property will remain fixed for the duration of the tenancy agreement.)
You can find out more about LHA on the
LHA Direct website.
Money for Landlords
If your property does not meet the Government's Decent Homes Standard, then it is still worth getting in touch with your local authority. We can offer grants to eligible landlords. Follow these links for more information:
London Landlord Accreditation Scheme
Accreditation with the London Landlord Scheme provides landlords with the benefits of information and training about the complex issues of running a successful business, and accreditation is recognised by the West London local authorites. Knowledge and awareness that landlords gain from the scheme is likely to lead to happier and lasting tenancies.
Find out more about the scheme at www.londonlandlords.org.uk
National Landlords Association
Membership to the National Landlords Association offers a host of benefits to landlords including legal advice, telephone support, analysis of the issues, policy advisors, and access to discounted commercial services. Information for landlords and upcoming events held throughout the UK including London are listed on the NLA website.
www.landlords.org