Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of housing benefit in the context of average rents in Scotland.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are reviewed annually by the Secretary of State. The review includes consideration of current rents, as well as the broader fiscal context. Rent Service Scotland have responsibility for collecting the private rental data that is used to help calculate LHA rates in Scotland.

From April this year the Government is investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents in Great Britain. This significant investment ensures 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain on average, nearly £800 in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. This includes around 85k private renters in Scotland who currently receive LHA.

LHA provides a reasonable level of housing support towards rental costs in the private rented sector. LHA rates are not intended to cover all rents in all areas.

For those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs and need further support Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities. Since April 2017, DHPs have been fully devolved to Scotland who are responsible for the allocation and payment to Scottish local authorities.