How OHA Actually Works
OHA is not BAH. The two allowances look similar on an LES line but operate on completely different mechanics. If you arrive OCONUS treating OHA like BAH, you will leave money on the table or — more likely — sign a lease that quietly costs you a few hundred dollars a month for the entire tour.
OHA pays the lesser of your actual rent or the published OHA rate ceiling for your country, grade, and dependency status. If your rent is below the ceiling, your OHA is below the ceiling. You cannot pocket the spread — unlike BAH. This single rule rewires the housing search overseas: you are not shopping for "under-BAH and keep the difference," you are shopping for the right house at or near the ceiling. Source: DTMO Overseas Housing Allowance, DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26.
OHA Is a Reimbursement. BAH Is an Entitlement.
BAH is a fixed monthly amount based on the off-base rental market at your CONUS duty station. Whether you spend it on rent, a mortgage, or your van down by the river — the amount is yours. That is an entitlement.
OHA is a reimbursement. The Defense Travel Management Office (DTMO) publishes a rent allowance ceiling for every overseas location, by paygrade and dependency status. Your rent allowance equals your actual reported rent, capped at that ceiling. You report the rent (in local currency) via your finance office when you move in, and again whenever it changes. Going below the ceiling does not generate extra income — it generates a lower OHA payment.
The Three Components (and the Five Buckets Inside MIHA)
OHA on your LES is one line item, but underneath it is a stack of separate allowances. Understanding what each one covers tells you what you can claim and what surveys you should fill out so the next person at your duty location does not get a bad rate.
| Component | Frequency | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Rental allowance | Monthly, reimbursement-based | Pays the lesser of your actual rent or the published rent ceiling for your location, grade, and dependency status. |
| UTRMA (Utility / Recurring Maintenance Allowance) | Monthly, fixed amount | Utilities, recurring maintenance, and minor repair expenses. Rate set from the annual OHA Utilities & Recurring Maintenance Allowance Expense Survey. |
| MIHA / Miscellaneous | One-time, lump sum at arrival | Average move-in expenses — appliances, utility hookups, transformers, voltage adapters. Rate set from a survey conducted every three years. |
| MIHA / Rent | One-time, dollar-for-dollar | Realtor / agent fees where local custom requires the tenant to pay them (common in Italy, Belgium, Germany). |
| MIHA / Security | One-time, dollar-for-dollar | Security upgrades to the residence at locations the State Department/DoD has designated as requiring them. |
Source: DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26 (OHA); DTMO "Overseas Housing Allowance" program page. MIHA/Infectious Disease and MIHA/Safety are additional, location-specific MIHA lines that exist but rarely apply.
How the Rent Ceiling Gets Set
The OHA ceiling for a given location is built from member-reported rent data — the annual OHA Utilities & Recurring Maintenance Allowance Expense Survey runs January 1 through March 31. DTMO targets the rate so roughly 80% of members with dependents at that location have their actual rent fully reimbursed. The implication: if you rent in the bottom 80% of the local market for your grade/dep status, you are likely at-ceiling. The top 20% are paying the spread out of pocket.
The published ceiling is in U.S. dollars, but the underlying calculation is in host-nation currency. That is why the dollar ceiling moves on the 1st of every month even when nothing about the local housing market has changed — the currency exchange rate moved.
The Update Cadence — Twice a Month, Not Once a Year
Source: DTMO "Station Allowance Changes" — changes are posted and effective on the 1st and 16th of each month.
Breaking Your Lease When the Orders Change — SCRA, Not SOFA
One of the most common myths overseas: "the SOFA lets me break my lease." The SOFA does not — federal law does. The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, 50 U.S.C. § 3955, lets you terminate a residential lease when you receive PCS orders (CONUS or OCONUS), deployment orders of 90+ days, or orders into government housing.
The mechanics: deliver written notice plus a copy of your orders to your landlord. The lease terminates 30 days after the next rent due date following delivery. The landlord cannot charge an early termination fee, lost-rent damages, or re-rental costs. This applies to leases governed by foreign law as well — though enforcement on a foreign landlord is harder, which is why most installation legal offices help draft the notice in both English and the local language.
One catch: if you signed the lease after receiving the orders that would otherwise let you terminate, you cannot use those same orders. New orders received after signing still qualify. When in doubt, go to your installation legal assistance office before you sign — every OCONUS installation has one, and they review leases for free.
Country-Specific Quirks Worth Knowing
The mechanical rules of OHA are uniform worldwide. What varies is the local market structure those rules collide with. A few patterns from the largest OHA populations:
- Italy: Realtor fees are conventionally split between landlord and tenant and can run a full month of rent or more — this is exactly what MIHA/Rent reimburses (dollar-for-dollar, with receipts). The Italy SOFA also includes a standard military clause most landlords near Aviano, Vicenza, and Naples already include in the lease.
- Germany: Leases typically run open-ended ("unbefristet") with a 3-month notice period. SCRA § 3955 still applies, but the housing office at most US installations in Germany maintains a German-language lease template with a military clause to avoid the friction.
- Japan: The Japan OHA survey is conducted separately and includes distinct line items for "Key Money" (rei-kin) and security deposits that feed into MIHA. Japanese landlords often require a Japanese guarantor — installation housing offices typically maintain a list of military-friendly real estate agents who handle this.
- Korea: Two parallel rental structures exist — wolse (monthly rent with a smaller deposit) and jeonse (a very large up-front lump-sum deposit, no monthly rent). OHA mechanics assume monthly rent, which makes jeonse leases administratively complex; most service members default to wolse.
- UK: Standard 6- or 12-month Assured Shorthold Tenancy with a break clause is the norm. Service members typically negotiate a military clause on top of the standard break.
Source: DTMO country-specific OHA survey guidance; installation housing office briefings (Aviano AB, USFJ, US Forces Korea). Local lease conventions are not codified in DoD policy — they are documented in installation-level housing materials.
The Questions People Actually Ask
How is OHA different from BAH?
BAH is a flat monthly entitlement at the CONUS rate for your duty location, grade, and dependency status — economize and you keep the difference. OHA is a reimbursement: you receive the lesser of your actual rent or the published rent ceiling for your location, grade, and dependency status. Rent below the ceiling means a smaller OHA. You do not get to pocket the spread.
What are the three parts of OHA?
A rental allowance (capped at the ceiling, reimbursement-style), a Utility/Recurring Maintenance Allowance paid monthly for utilities and minor maintenance, and the Move-In Housing Allowance (MIHA) — which itself has sub-categories: MIHA/Miscellaneous (one-time lump sum for move-in expenses like appliances and utility hookups), MIHA/Rent (dollar-for-dollar realtor fees where required), MIHA/Security (location-specific security upgrades), and the rarer MIHA/Infectious Disease and MIHA/Safety lines.
How often does OHA update?
OHA station allowance changes are posted on the 1st and 16th of each month. The 1st-of-month change reflects updated currency exchange rates against the host nation. Cost-of-living data inputs (UTRMA, MIHA/Misc) are refreshed on a longer cadence — UTRMA from an annual survey, MIHA/Miscellaneous from a survey conducted every three years. So your OHA in dollars can move twice a month even when the underlying ceiling in local currency is unchanged.
Can I keep money if I rent below the OHA ceiling?
No. OHA pays dollar-for-dollar up to the ceiling — your rent allowance equals the lesser of your actual rent or the OHA rate. This is fundamentally different from BAH. Renting cheap overseas reduces your OHA. The trade-off goes the other way: hit the ceiling exactly and roughly 80% of members with dependents have their rent fully reimbursed.
Can I break my overseas lease when I PCS or my orders change?
Yes — the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (50 U.S.C. § 3955) lets you terminate a residential lease on receipt of PCS orders (including OCONUS-to-anywhere PCS) or deployment orders of 90+ days, regardless of where the lease was signed. Notice must be in writing with a copy of the orders attached. The lease terminates 30 days after the next rent due date. This is federal law, not a SOFA provision — but most OCONUS landlords are familiar with it because military tenants invoke it constantly.
Why does my UTRMA seem too low for my actual utility bills?
UTRMA is based on the annual OHA survey of what members in that country actually report spending — not your individual bill. If members under-report or under-respond, the allowance drifts low and stays low until enough people fill out the next survey. The DTMO is explicit: members influence their UTRMA and MIHA/Misc rates by accurate reporting. If you do not fill out the survey, you have no standing to complain about the rate.
Is OHA taxable?
No. Like BAH, OHA is a non-taxable housing allowance under 26 U.S.C. § 134 (qualified military benefits). That tax-free status is part of why the dollar amount feels small relative to the local cost — you are comparing tax-free housing dollars to a gross rental market.
- • DTMO Overseas Housing Allowance program page — travel.dod.mil / Overseas-Housing-Allowance
- • DTMO OHA Rate Lookup — travel.dod.mil / OHA-Rate-Lookup
- • DTMO Station Allowance Changes (1st & 16th cadence) — travel.dod.mil / Station-Allowance-Changes
- • DoD FMR Volume 7A, Chapter 26 (OHA & MIHA mechanics, table 26-21, table 26-23) — comptroller.defense.gov / fmr / 07a_26.pdf
- • 50 U.S. Code § 3955 — Termination of residential or motor vehicle leases (SCRA) — uscode.house.gov / 50 USC 3955
- • MyArmyBenefits — Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) benefit summary — myarmybenefits.us.army.mil