Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential effect of the real terms cut to Local Housing Allowance rates in 2021-22 on levels of (a) poverty and (b) homelessness; and if she will publish that assessment.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates were increased in April 2020 to the 30th percentile of local rents costing almost £1 billion providing 1.5 million claimants with around £600 more housing support per year than they would otherwise have received. For 2021/22 LHA rates are to be maintained at their increased level, ensuring all claimants who benefited from the significant increase last year will continue to do so.

In addition, as announced on 3 March, we will be extending the exemption for care leavers and former residents of homeless hostels to all qualifying under 25 year olds from June 2021. This will bring forward the planned implementation of these previously announced changed by over 2 years.

For those who require additional support with housing costs Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available. Since 2011 we have provided over £1 billion in DHP funding.