UK government urged to increase housing benefit in the face of rising rents – London Wallet

The government has no clue about the impact of the housing benefit freeze, claims the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA).

The landlord body says that the government has made no estimate of the number of people unable to meet their housing costs due to the freeze on housing benefit rates.

The NRLA says the admission was made by the Work and Pensions minister, Mims Davies, in response to a parliamentary question.

It comes as the claimants of the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) face a third year of their payments being frozen in cash terms. It means that housing support provided by the Government does not reflect rents as they are today. Instead, they are linked to market rents as they were in 2019.

A recent analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies estimates that rented households in receipt of the LHA will receive an average of £50 a month less in benefit support than they would have got if rates had risen in line with rents.

Ben Beadle, chief executive of the NRLA, said: “The NRLA is appalled at the government’s complacent attitude. Amidst a cost of living squeeze we need to do everything to support the sector and often vulnerable tenants in accessing the housing they need.

“It beggars belief that ministers have frozen vital support for many renters with no idea how many will be unable to afford their housing as a result.

“The government should unfreeze housing benefit rates as a matter of urgency.”