Rent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Modification) Order 2026

Baroness Thornhill Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd March 2026 Grand Committee

Moved by

[Baroness Thornhill]

That the Grand Committee takes note of the Rent Officers (Housing Benefit and Universal Credit Functions) (Modification) Order 2026.

Relevant document: 48th Report from the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee

[Baroness Thornhill (LD)]

My Lords, noble Lords can tell from me advancing to the wrong place that I have never done anything like this before. It shows that this is something about which I feel absolutely passionate, from my role as the housing spokesperson for the Liberal Democrats and from my own experience as now patron of a local homelessness charity in Watford, New Hope, which I hope I helped not only to survive but to thrive during my time as the elected mayor. This issue is close to my heart.

I have been asked to give a few apologies to the Minister. The noble Lord, Lord Best, and the noble Baronesses, Lady Lister and Lady Tyler, all wished to speak today but are unable to do so due to genuine, legitimate commitments elsewhere.

I start by looking the Minister square in the face and saying that I know she understands this issue and that I know where her heart is. I am doing this because I feel that there are real issues here that are not being factored into the Government’s assessment and financial considerations. That is where I am coming from.

Local housing allowance is not just an abstract welfare lever; it is the mechanism that decides whether people can pay their rent or lose their home. Freezing it again is not fiscal housekeeping—that is where I am coming from today. It is a political choice that knowingly widens the gap between rents and support until families fall through it. A freeze—that is what it is—does not freeze rents, eviction notices or hardship; it freezes help and support while everything else keeps rising.

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The Secretary of State also considered what other funding was available to support people with housing costs. The DWP funds local authorities—which we believe are best placed to assess local need—to help support people to meet a shortfall in rent costs or to help to move properties. This is currently delivered through discretionary housing payments. As the noble Viscount, Lord Younger, mentioned, from April in England, the crisis and resilience fund will replace the household support fund and incorporate DHPs, streamlining support into a single fund. We are investing £842 million a year—that is £1 billion including the Barnett consequential for the devolved Administrations —to reform crisis support. This new fund is the first multi-year crisis support fund, which will make a real difference to local authorities’ ability to plan how they can give support to those who need it. The Scottish Government launched their version—

[Baroness Thornhill (LD)]

Can the Minister clarify that this will be a different way to use what was previously DHP rather than additional new money?

[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

I will come on in a moment to try to answer the specific question. If the noble Baroness will give me one second, I move to that point, because I want to explain how it will work. I thank her for nudging me.

I will look at a number of the questions that were asked. The noble Baroness mentioned the Crisis report saying that only 2.7% of properties were affordable. For clarity and for the record, the Crisis report looked at newly advertised rents, which are typically higher than those for continued tenancies. Although the report highlights the cost challenge of moving to a new tenancy, we do not think it accurately represents the whole picture. LHA rates are based on confirmed rents for sitting tenants rather than the advertised rents. I am not challenging the broader issue; I just wanted to make that clear for the record.

The noble Baroness also mentioned the impact on homelessness. As we all know, the causes of homelessness are multifaceted and are driven by a range of factors, both personal and structural, but the relationship with social security is clearly one of those factors. The DWP has worked closely with the MHCLG on the national plan to end homelessness, which is driving sustainable change and addressing the root causes of homelessness. We explicitly considered LHA rates against homelessness goals. We are committed to working together with the MHCLG and the Treasury to keep LHA rates under review—I hope that gives the noble Baroness some reassurance.

However, we also know that too many people are living in temporary accommodation and that local authorities are under pressure, so we want to prevent homelessness in the first place. We are investing £3.6 billion in homelessness prevention and rough-sleeping services over the next three years, as well as the removal of the two-child benefit cap, increases in universal credit, and other measures. We are delivering the increase in supply of social and affordable housing.

On food poverty, which was mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Pinnock, we have announced action to transform our food system to ensure that it delivers access to affordable, healthy food. However, we are engaging routinely and regularly with stakeholders to understand the key priorities. We have also taken the step of expanding free school meals to all those on universal credit, which will in itself lift 100,000 children out of poverty by the end of this Parliament.

Briefly, before I come on to the crisis and resilience point, the Government have committed to building 1.5 million new homes. That is a stretching target, which is what we intended it to be. We are backing that up with a record £39 billion of investment to kick-start social and affordable housebuilding at scale across the country.

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[Baroness Sherlock (Lab)]

Of course, there are still issues about tiers and responsibility. One of the challenges is that local government reform is going on, which is one of the reasons why we need to make sure that we work with local authorities so that, by the time we get to that point, we have taken account of that. But this is the housing strand within the CRF—the CRF does other things too; it does not deal only with housing. The housing strand, however, is there to deal with support for those whose housing needs are supported through the social security system. I hope that is okay.

The noble Viscount also asked me who makes the decisions, and it is the local authorities. We believe they are best placed to make informed judgments about relative priorities and needs in their area, but we engage with them regularly through regular forums and we publish guidance on both schemes.

I hope that has picked up the questions that all noble Lords have asked. I am always very happy to be interrupted. If I have not, I will look through Hansard, and I will be happy to write if I have missed anything.

To conclude, we really must continue to provide support towards rent costs for those who need it, including the most vulnerable. However, we will have to balance that with challenges in other areas and with the needs of the taxpayer. In the current challenging fiscal environment, measures with the greatest impact on government goals in the area of poverty have been prioritised. That is why we are investing in social and affordable housing, as well as removing the two-child limit to lift children out of poverty—which, by the way, I do not regard as a cloud hanging over anyone; it is a wonderful opportunity to lift children out of poverty, and I am proud that the Government are doing it. That was a little parenthesis. We are also fixing the work disincentive for vulnerable people living in temporary accommodation and supported housing.

Once again, I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Thornhill, for giving us the chance to discuss this important issue, and I hope that she and the Committee can understand the reasons for the choices we made.

[Baroness Thornhill (LD)]

What I do understand is making difficult choices, and I often say it is a difficult position to be in—well, I would like to be in it, but I do not underestimate the difficulty of it.

I thank my noble friend Lady Pinnock who, as always, brings it slap down to reality and where we are; she is great at that. I also thank the noble Viscount, Lord Younger of Leckie—I never doubt his sincerity or the logical way in which he presents arguments and asks questions. He has today confirmed why I am at this end of the table and not that one—but hey ho.

I agree with the Minister that one of the issues today is short-termism; very often, it is from election to election, and it has absolutely been responsible for all the mess she has had to pick up. It has to be said that we are very much in tune with many of her aspirations and we wish them well. Unfortunately, however, we cannot see two, five, seven or 10 years into the future, so we do not know what will happen in the meantime.

It has been helpful to hear the Minister outline everything today, but I am still not convinced that this does more than move the money around. Let me put it this way: I wish the Government had made another choice. I just looked at the figures the Minister gave. She said it was £7 billion over five years, but if it is £1 billion a year for the new and old funds, that is £1.25 billion over a year, and it is £2.8 billion a year in temporary housing. So I am still not convinced that it all adds up, but I am sure that in a metaphorical smoke-filled room somewhere, the Minister has a sheet and she is saying, “Okay, that’s the right decision” because of whatever. I think we just have to hope that things improve in the future.

The Minister mentioned the reality of renting and keeping things in touch with what actual rents are. I therefore urge her to talk to her colleague, the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor, about the database that was promised in the Renters’ Rights Act, because rent levels are meant to be on that database, and that will be a very helpful part of it. During the passage of that Act, I was very pro the database, but it seems that a lot of things have been shoved into the long grass a bit. The database is a valuable tool. The proof of the pudding will be what happens in the future, and we hope for the sake of those tens of thousands of children and families that the Government are correct. I thank all noble Lords for their contributions.

Motion agreed.