Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the freeze on Local Housing Allowance on levels of homelessness in England.

We have made no assessment of the impact of the policy to freeze Local Housing Allowance rates upon levels of homelessness.

There is no clear evidence to suggest that the policy is contributing to increased homelessness. Further the latest statistics show that the number of homelessness acceptances in England has decreased slightly over the past year and the figures are very similar to the homelessness acceptances when the freeze commenced.