Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government, further to the plans outlined by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Spending Review to cap the amount of rent that Housing Benefit will cover in the social sector to the relevant Local Housing Allowance (LHA), what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposed application of the cap on supported housing providers based in those parts of the country where there is a significant gap between LHA rates and the cost of provision.

In his Written Ministerial Statement to the House of Commons on 15^th September 2016 the Secretary of State confirmed that the new funding model will ensure that the supported housing sector will be funded at the same level it would have otherwise been in 2019/20, taking into account the effect of Government policy on social sector rents.

An online consultation on this new model seeking the views of the sector was launched on 21^st November 2016 and will run until 13^th February 2017 and can be accessed from the Gov.UK website.