Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many amendments he has made to the Local Housing Allowance areas over the last five years, and whether he plans to make further revisions.

There have been no amendments to any Broad Rental Market Areas (BRMAs) in the past five years. BRMAs are geographical areas used for the purposes of setting Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates in the private rented sector. Whilst Rent Officers are able to review these areas, any changes to the BRMA boundaries must be referred to the Secretary of State for approval, as laid down in the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit Functions) Order 1997 and the Rent Officers (Universal Credit Functions) Order 2013.