Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make a comparative assessment of (a) the Local Housing Allowance and (b) average rental costs for four bedroom properties in St Albans District Council area.

The LHA rates are set based on the Broad Rental Market Area (BRMA) each household lives in. The current LHA rates (2023/24) for each BRMA and bedroom type can be found here. The Secretary of State reviewed Local Housing Allowance rates for 2024/25 and announced in his written ministerial statement on 22^nd November that, across GB, LHA rates should be increased to the 30th percentile based on rents from September 2023.

The Department does not collect data on rental costs for accommodation in each BRMA, the Valuation Office Agency collects data on rental costs in England to produce the 30th percentile of market rents and publishes the list of rents utilised to calculate the LHA rates. The latest list of rents for the period 1st October 2021 to 30th September 2022 is published here.