Local Reference Rent tables

"The published LRRs are weekly figures. Please read the Local Reference Rent tables – Information to note´ before using the LRR tables"

Local Reference Rent Tables in Publications"

Information to note

Background

Under the Local Reference Rent – LRR Scheme, local authority Housing Benefit (HB) departments are required to refer private rented sector claims for HB living in the to Rent Officers every 12 months. Rent Officers carry out a series of valuation related determinations for every individual case. One of these determinations is a Local Reference Rent (LRR). A LRR will be provided for most claims which started before 7 April 2008, and some newer claims (like board and lodgings, site rents and mooring charges).

More information about the determinations that Rent Officers must make is available in our leaflet Housing Benefit – the Rent Officer and Housing Benefit and detailed information set out in the Rent Officer Handbook.

Local Reference Rents (LRRs)

The LRR is the mid-point between what in the rent officer´s opinion are the highest (‘H’) and lowest (‘L’) non-exceptional rents in a given Broad Rental Market Area (Local Reference Rent).

The tables show LRRs for properties for 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 rooms. They also show the three LRR categories for one room properties, which rent officers call 1A (one room let with substantial board and attendance), 1B (room in shared accommodation) and 1C (rooms which do not fall into the first two categories e.g. one roomed studio units). The tables provide an indication of rent officer decision-making during the previous quarter of the year.

Important information to help interpret the LRR tables

Users of the tables should note the following provisos:

  • A Local Reference Rent (LRR) determination does not exist until it is applied to a specific case. The figures in the tables are simply those agreed generally in discussions between Rent Officers and form the basis of their LRR determinations. They have no legal status.
  • The LRR has no bearing on the housing benefit entitlement of private rented sector claimants where one of the other determinations that Rent Officers make is a lower figure.
  • The VOA seeks to ensure that the information published in the tables below and elsewhere on its website is up-to date and accurate as at the date shown. However, none of the information on our website constitutes professional advice.
  • The information in the LRR tables below and elsewhere on this website provides a general guide. It does not constitute any predictor or guaranteed indicator of how much housing benefit entitlement a claimant is likely to receive. Nor does the information provide any guaranteed indicator of the condition of or trends in the private rental market. The VOA does not accept any liability for actions or judgments that housing benefit claimants or others take arising from their use of the tables below.
  • The information and publications on this website are subject to Crown Copyright. Material may be reproduced without formal permission or charge for personal or in-house use only.