Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of relinking Local Housing Allowance rates to the lowest 30 per cent of local rents.

The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions reviews Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates annually and a decision will be announced in due course.

In April 2020 LHA rates were increased to the 30th percentile of local rents. This investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants with an average £600 more housing support in 2020/21.

For those who require additional support with housing costs, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) are available from local authorities. Since 2011 we have provided almost £1.5 billion in DHPs.