Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether she plans to amend local housing allowance rates to reflect actual rental market costs (a) on the Isle of Wight and (b) in other areas.

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates are reviewed annually, usually at an Autumn fiscal event. Rates are set based on the area of the country a person lives and their bedroom entitlement

The Secretary of State’s decision at last year’s Autumn Budget to maintain LHA rates at current levels for 2025/26 considered a range of factors including: rental data in areas across the country, the impacts of LHA rates, the challenging fiscal environment and the rate increases the previous April which cost an additional £7bn over 5 years.

Any future decisions on the LHA policy will be taken in the context of the Government’s missions, goals on housing and the fiscal context.

Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) are available from local authorities to those who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.