Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she will take to ensure that people of pensionable age have sufficient money to pay their rents in addition to their household bills.

We have a comprehensive package of measures to help pensioners. The State Pension is the foundation of support for older people, and the value of it has been steadily increasing since 2010.

In 2020/21 the total welfare spending in Great Britain on Pensioners was £125.1 billion. This included around £5.5 billion for Housing Benefit to support pensioners with their rental costs. Pensioner spend is forecast to increase this year.

Pensioners who are in receipt of the guarantee credit element of Pension Credit as well as Housing Benefit receive their maximum eligible rent less any non-dependant deductions (if applicable).

Pensioners renting in the social sector have their rent paid in full (subject to deductions for excess income and non-dependants), they are not subject to the removal of the spare room subsidy policy. Pensioners renting in the private rented sector have their housing benefit determined by the local housing allowance (LHA) rate.

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 than they would otherwise have received.

LHA rates have been maintained at their increased levels in 2021/22 and will remain at those levels for 2022/23, so that everyone who benefitted from the increase will continue to do so.

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