Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of (a) maintaining Local Housing Allowance rates at the rates those agreed for 2020-21 and (b) increasing Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local rents in April in the (i) 2021-22, (ii) 2022-23, and (iii) 2023-24 financial years.

In April 2020 the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was increased to the 30th percentile of market rents. Since then, LHA rates have been maintained at these levels, Total DWP housing expenditure on claimants subject to the LHA was £8.2 billion in 2020-21 and £8.8 billion for 2021-22 and was forecast to be £9 billion in 2022-23 and £10 billion for 2023-24 at Spring Budget 2023.

Previous estimates have been made of the costs to DWP housing expenditure of increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of market rents in specific years. They were as follows:

i) £140 million for 2021-22

ii) £300 million for 2022-23

iii) £700 million for 2023-24

These estimates were based on the economic assumptions and forecasts available at the time of their production.