Local Housing Allowance: Homelessness

(asked on 24th November 2021) - View Source

Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions on the potential effect of the Local Housing Allowance rate freeze on the number of people who are homeless; and if he will make a statement.


Answered by
Eddie Hughes Portrait
Eddie Hughes
This question was answered on 2nd December 2021

The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and we are spending more than £800 million to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping this year alone. We work closely with colleagues across government on these issues, including DWP.

In April 2020 we increased the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates to the 30th percentile of market rents. This investment of nearly £1 billion provided 1.5 million claimants of Housing Benefit or the housing element of Universal Credit with around £600 more housing support in 2020/21 than they would otherwise have received. For 2021/22, Local Housing Allowance rates have been maintained at the same cash level, and will remain at those levels for 2022/23, meaning claimants renting in the private rented sector continue to benefit from the significant increase in the rates applied in April 2020.

For those who require additional support, Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available. Since 2011 we have provided over £1 billion in DHPs to local authorities to support households with their housing costs.

Reticulating Splines