Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the impact of levels of Local Housing Allowance on a) poverty b) homelessness among Universal Credit claimants in Leicester South.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviewed Local Housing Allowance (LHA) at the 2025 Autumn Budget and announced that rates would be maintained at their current levels for 2026/27. A range of factors, such as rent levels across the country and poverty impacts, were considered against the fiscal context, including the level of housing support that Government provides overall.

LHA rates are reviewed annually and future decisions on LHA will be taken in the context of the Government’s welfare priorities, and the fiscal context.

Renters receiving housing support who face a shortfall in meeting their rent costs can apply for the Crisis and Resilience Fund Housing Payment from local authorities in England.

The causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and often complex; they interact dynamically making it difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors. DWP continues to work closely with MHCLG on interactions with homelessness.