DWP update over scrapping Local Housing Allowance freeze

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is under pressure to lift its Housing Allowance freeze. In a letter to DWP boss and Labour Party MP Liz Kendall, Paul McLennan has warned over the impact in Scotland of the devolved benefit being frozen.

“Whilst we will continue to do all we can to support households struggling with the impact of the freeze within devolved powers, the UK Government must commit to unfreezing LHA rates,” he said. “Research from the Resolution Foundation estimates that permanently repegging LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local rents would mean 75,000 fewer children in poverty by the end of the UK Parliament.

“This is a missed opportunity to help lift many children out of poverty. I am therefore calling on you to end the uncertainty and ensure that LHA rates will permanently meet at least the 30th percentile of local rents in future years.

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“The upcoming spring statement is an opportunity to reverse the freeze and deliver adequate support to private sector tenants.” PAC members have called on the government to set out its reasoning over “concerns at the subjectivity of DWP’s judgements and that it cannot say what impact raising LHA rates would have on homelessness”.

The committee also raised the alarm over how surging homelessness is pushing local authority finances to the limit and leaving people house in unsuitable temporary accommodation. “A lack of affordable housing, a focus on short-term solutions and no clear strategy to tackle this issue have left us with thousands of families in deeply troubling circumstances,” said sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, chair of the committee.

“Worryingly there seems to be no desire to move away from an unsatisfactory short-term system, leaving local authorities attempting to save a sinking ship with a little more than a leaky bucket. Local authorities find themselves at breaking point as they haemorrhage funds to cover the rising costs of housing families in temporary accommodation. We are calling for an overarching strategy that addresses the need for better connectivity across government departments to tackle the root causes of this crisis.

"Without one, we fear this will remain an issue into which money is simply poured, without effectively tackling the blight of homelessness. government must learn from the lessons of the past to inform what they will do in the future.”