Housing LHA rate
POST /v1/housing/lha-rateLocal Housing Allowance for a postcode and bedroom category — the ceiling on housing benefit, and therefore the effective rent floor for a benefit-funded tenancy. Nothing else in this API tells you what the state will pay for a property.
Same call over MCP
Local Housing Allowance ratelha_rateAuthenticate with an API key from the API & MCP Hub. The same call is available as an MCP tool at the same price.
Reference
What POST /v1/housing/lha-rate returns
THE RATE IS WEEKLY. rate_unit says gbp_per_week and the figure is exactly as the rate-setting bodies publish it. Comparing it against a monthly rent — from market_facts rental_value, or a listing's monthly_rent — understates it by about 4.33x. Convert with 52/12, NOT by multiplying by 4: a "monthly" figure built from four weeks is 7.7% low and the error is invisible once it is in a spreadsheet.
Resolved through the Broad Rental Market Area containing the postcode, not the local authority — a BRMA is its own geography and they do not align. brma names which one answered, and shared_accommodation_rate is the separate, lower figure for under-35 single claimants.
Needs a FULL postcode (a district is not enough to place a BRMA), and there is no category above 4 bedrooms. Three bodies set these rates: the VOA in England, Rent Service Scotland, and Rent Officers Wales.
Inputs
Before you call it
- postcode
- The postcode must be a full UK postcode ("SE22 8HN"), not a district. Where a tool works at district grain it truncates the postcode itself.
Request
Calling POST /v1/housing/lha-rate
curl -X POST "https://api.marketcode.ai/v1/housing/lha-rate" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $MARKETCODE_API_KEY"
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"postcode":"SE22 8HN","bedrooms":2}'Send your API key as a Bearer token. Every response carries credits_charged and credits_remaining.
Inputs
Parameters
This endpoint takes no path or query parameters.
Request body
| Name | In | Type | Required | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| postcode | Body | string | Yes | A full UK postcode, e.g. 'W14 9JH' |
| bedrooms | Body | integer | Yes | Bedroom category, 1-4. LHA has no category above 4.One of: 1, 2, 3, 4 |
Response
What POST /v1/housing/lha-rate returns for a real request
curl -X POST "https://api.marketcode.ai/v1/housing/lha-rate" \
-H "Authorization: Bearer $MARKETCODE_API_KEY"
-H "Content-Type: application/json" \
-d '{"postcode":"SE22 8HN","bedrooms":2}'{
"data": {
"postcode": "SE22 8HN",
"brma_name": "Inner South East London",
"country": "england",
"effective_from": "2026-04-01",
"rates": {
"shared_room": {
"weekly_rate_gbp": 149.59,
"monthly_equivalent_gbp": 648.22
},
"1_bed": {
"weekly_rate_gbp": 298.15,
"monthly_equivalent_gbp": 1291.98
},
"2_bed": {
"weekly_rate_gbp": 356.71,
"monthly_equivalent_gbp": 1545.74
},
"3_bed": {
"weekly_rate_gbp": 448.77,
"monthly_equivalent_gbp": 1944.67
},
"4_bed": {
"weekly_rate_gbp": 604.11,
"monthly_equivalent_gbp": 2617.81
}
},
"source": "voa_lha",
"note": "Weekly rates as published by the VOA. BRMA resolved from the VOA boundary layer, not from the local authority — a BRMA does not follow council boundaries.",
"requested_category": "2_bed",
"requested_rate": {
"weekly_rate_gbp": 356.71,
"monthly_equivalent_gbp": 1545.74
},
"execution_time_ms": 50.1
},
"credits_charged": 0
}A real response, captured from production and trimmed: arrays to three items, long strings shortened, volatile keys dropped.
Response
Response fields
| Field | Type | Example |
|---|---|---|
| data | object | |
| data.postcode | string | SE22 8HN |
| data.brma_name | string | Inner South East London |
| data.country | string | england |
| data.effective_from | string | 2026-04-01 |
| data.rates | object | |
| data.rates.shared_room | object | |
| data.rates.shared_room.weekly_rate_gbp | number | 149.59 |
| data.rates.shared_room.monthly_equivalent_gbp | number | 648.22 |
| data.rates.1_bed | object | |
| data.rates.1_bed.weekly_rate_gbp | number | 298.15 |
| data.rates.1_bed.monthly_equivalent_gbp | number | 1291.98 |
| data.rates.2_bed | object | |
| data.rates.2_bed.weekly_rate_gbp | number | 356.71 |
| data.rates.2_bed.monthly_equivalent_gbp | number | 1545.74 |
| data.rates.3_bed | object | |
| data.rates.3_bed.weekly_rate_gbp | number | 448.77 |
| data.rates.3_bed.monthly_equivalent_gbp | number | 1944.67 |
| data.rates.4_bed | object | |
| data.rates.4_bed.weekly_rate_gbp | number | 604.11 |
| data.rates.4_bed.monthly_equivalent_gbp | number | 2617.81 |
| data.source | string | voa_lha |
| data.note | string | Weekly rates as published by the VOA. BRMA resol |
| data.requested_category | string | 2_bed |
| data.requested_rate | object | |
| data.requested_rate.weekly_rate_gbp | number | 356.71 |
| data.requested_rate.monthly_equivalent_gbp | number | 1545.74 |
| data.execution_time_ms | number | 50.1 |
| credits_charged | integer | 0 |
Fields observed in the example response above; a field the example did not exercise is not listed.
Price and licence
What it costs, and where the data comes from
Housing LHA rate is free over MCP and over REST, and the two surfaces share one credit balance. Free calls need a signed-in account or an API key and appear in your usage, but they never touch your balance.
Credits are granted on sign-up and bought in packs; the pricing page lists every call.
Sources
- VOA, Rent Service Scotland and Rent Officers Wales
Local Housing Allowance rates by Broad Rental Market Area
Open Government Licence v3 · Great Britain
Related
Endpoints used with Housing LHA rate
- Market facts for an areaFree
market_factsPrice, rent, yield and days-on-market by geography × asset class ×Named in the description - Bank of England mortgage ratesFree
mortgage_ratesAverage UK mortgage rates from the Bank of England: 2-year fixed, 3-year fixed at 75% LTV, and the standard variable rate.Same category
Glossary
Terms used here
- Gross yield: Annual rent as a percentage of price, before costs; net yield deducts costs. MarketCode computes gross yield from listing rents and prices and reports net yield only where an auctioneer quoted one.
- Local Housing Allowance (LHA): The maximum housing benefit for private tenants, set weekly per bedroom category for each Broad Rental Market Area; the effective rent floor for a benefit-funded tenancy.
FAQ
Questions about Housing LHA rate
How much does `lha_rate` cost?
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Housing LHA rate is free over MCP and over REST, and the two surfaces share one credit balance. Free calls need a signed-in account or an API key and appear in your usage, but they never touch your balance.
How do I authenticate?
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Send your API key as a Bearer token in the Authorization header. Keys are created in the API & MCP Hub, shown once and revocable. Every response carries the credits charged and your remaining balance.
Is there an MCP version?
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Yes. The lha_rate tool on the MarketCode MCP server is the same call at the same price, signed in with OAuth rather than a key, so Claude, ChatGPT, Codex and Cursor can run it in a conversation.
Where does the data come from?
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Read from VOA, Rent Service Scotland and Rent Officers Wales LHA rates.
Does `lha_rate` change anything?
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No. The tool is annotated read-only on the server, so it never writes to your data or ours and an assistant can call it without a confirmation step.
Try Housing LHA rate on a real address.
30-minute call. We'll provision a key and walk through the endpoint on your use case.