Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether a freeze on local housing allowance levels will result in the value of housing benefit falling below the 30th percentile of local rents in the months ahead.

The increase in Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates in April 2020 provided 1.5 million claimants with, on average, around £600 more housing support per year than they would otherwise have received. In 2021/22 all LHA rates will be maintained at their increased level, meaning claimants renting in the private rented sector will continue to benefit from the significant increase in the rates applied this year, providing claimants with stability during this period of uncertainty.