Question to the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of Local Housing Rates on the availability of private sector rented accommodation to homeless people.

We know that there are varied and complex reasons behind a person’s homelessness, including the availability of private rented sector accommodation, which this Government is taking steps to address.

Following the 4 year freeze to?Local?Housing Allowance (LHA)?rates this Government?is now delivering on the manifesto commitment to?end the?benefit?freeze.??From April?2020?LHA?rates will?be uprated by CPI –?an increase of?1.7 per cent in?line with wider benefit uprating.

In addition, since 2011 we have provided over £1 billion in Discretionary Housing Payment funding, enabling?local?authorities to protect the most vulnerable claimants and supporting?households?to adapt to housing support?reforms.

We recently announced an extra £40 million in Discretionary Housing Payments for 2020/21, helping to tackle?the most acute?affordability?pressures?in the private rented sector.

The increase will?mean?the majority of?people in receipt of housing support in the Private Rented Sector will?see their housing support increase on average by around £10 per month.