A new report from the housing charity Shelter finds that 211,070 households could be put at risk by homelessness by 2020 unless the freeze on Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates is lifted.
Download Shut Out: Households put at risk of homelessness by the housing benefit freeze
Most private renters claiming housing benefit are assessed through LHA, which determines the maximum amount of support that a household is eligible for.
The amount of support a household can claim will depend on where they live, the minimum number of bedrooms they need and their income. It assumes that someone claiming housing benefit will find a home to rent which is cheaper than average for their local area.
The maximum ‘LHA rate’ for each area is set at, or below, the cost of renting a home in the bottom third of the local private rental market.
Since April 2016, all working age benefits, including LHA rates, have been frozen until April 2020. This means that most LHA rates will stay the same regardless of how much private rents have gone up by in each local area.
Shelter’s analysis suggests that a million households in Britain could be put at risk of homelessness by 2020 unless the freeze on LHA rates is lifted.
This number includes:
- 211,070 households where someone claims a disability benefit;
- 586,368 Families with dependent children, of which 374,543 are in work;
- 114,917 households above pension age.
This is because over a million households live in an area where there will be a shortfall between the amount of LHA they can claim, and the cost of renting one of the cheapest homes by 2020. Once their tenancy ends, they may struggle to find a new one, and be put at risk of homelessness.