GovWire

Valuation Office Agency (VOA) Rent Officers have a statutory duty to collect and record residential private market rental data and carry out rental valuations in England.

They are responsible for:

• maintaining a register of fair rents setting the maximum rent that can be charged for a regulated tenancy (also known as a protected or secure tenancy)
• determining Local Housing Allowance (LHA) based on private market rent levels
• advising local authorities of the maximum subsidy level payable for housing benefit claims under the local reference rent system

The rental information is used to assist the Office for National Statistics with the production Private Rental Market Statistics and national inflation and price indices.