How it is calculated
It depends on your circumstances, such as:
- The amount of rent and council tax you pay
- Your income
- Your savings
- Who lives in your home and what their circumstances are.
If you would like to know how much rent or council tax you should pay while you are waiting for us to assess your claim then you can use the benefit calculator or contact us on 0151 443 4042 and ask for an estimate of your housing or council tax reduction. This is called a trial calculation. It does not guarantee exactly the amount of help you will receive but it will give you an idea of how much you should be paying until your assessment is received.
Renting from a private landlord
Since the introduction of the Local Housing Allowance, the level of housing benefit we can pay depends on the size of the household occupying the property and the broad rental market area on which the property is based.
Before deciding to move into a property, you must find out what the maximum benefit we can pay for a particular property. To do this, you need to establish how many bedrooms you require based on the size criteria below.
Find out more about Local Housing Allowance here
Broad Rental Market Areas (BRMA)
The Rent Service no longer values individual properties. Instead, they set monthly local housing allowance rates for different size properties within different areas based on the midpoint of rent charged by private landlords.
These areas are called Broad Rental Market Areas (BRMA). Each local authority has at least one BRMA. There is no right to appeal against these rates.
BRMAs in Knowsley
Greater Liverpool
Covers Huyton, Kirkby, Halewood and Knowsley Village
St Helens
Covers Whiston and Prescot
North Cheshire
Covers Cronton
It is important to understand that the figure given by the rent officer is not necessarily the amount of weekly entitlement we will pay. This will depend on your income and personal circumstances.