Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 April 2025 to Question 44809 on Local Housing Allowance: Wales, what (a) metrics, (b) data points and (c) analysis were used to determine the impacts of Local Housing Allowance rates referenced his Answer; and whether the effect on the number of households becoming homeless was factored into that analysis.

The impacts referenced in the previous answer were determined using a wide variety of metrics, data and analysis. These included:

• Current and past rental data supplied by the Valuation Office Agency, Rent Officers Scotland, and Rent Officers Wales;
• Analysis of current and past DWP administrative data on recipient households from a number of angles, including policy simulation modelling: and
• Forecasts on benefit caseloads and related matters.

As covered in the previous answer, the causes of homelessness are multi-faceted and interact dynamically. This makes it very difficult to isolate the relative importance of individual factors such as individual benefit rates. But interactions with key measures such as Temporary Accommodation were considered with input from the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government.

At Autumn Budget the Government prioritised a downpayment on poverty, by introducing a Fair Payment Rate for Universal Credit (UC) customers with deductions to retain more of their benefit award. We have invested £1bn in extending the Household Support Fund and maintaining Discretionary Housing Payments (DHPs) at current levels (including Barnett impacts) for 2025/26.

We continue to work across Government on the development of the Homelessness and Rough \Sleeping strategy in England. Housing and homelessness policy is devolved to Wales.

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

DHPs are available from local authorities and can be paid to those entitled to Housing Benefit or Universal Credit who face a shortfall in meeting their housing costs.