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 adequacy of the Local Housing Allowance for enabling access to housing for claimants who are (a) disabled and (b) not disabled.

Local Housing Allowance policy is reviewed annually by the Secretary of State.

As announced in the Autumn Statement, from April 2024 the Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents. This significant investment will ensure 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain on average, nearly £800 per year in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. 50% of households receiving housing support have one disabled person in the household.

The LHA policy does also allow for an additional room to support the needs of disabled people who meet the qualifying criteria. This applies where, by virtue of their disability, a member of the household is not able to share a bedroom or requires and receives overnight care on a regular basis from a non-resident carer.

For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 the Government has provided nearly £1.7 billion in DHP funding to local authorities.

Overall, the Government is providing total support of over £104 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help households and individuals with cost of living pressures.