Charity pleads with Government to increase housing allowance

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Housing Benefit:

The housing charity Crisis is calling on the government to increase Local Housing Allowance (LHA) levels which thousand of tenants reply on for rent payments.

The austerity freeze
on housing benefit is leading to extreme hardship argues the charity
with LHA not having been lifted since 2016.

According to one
report published by Inside Housing, a weekly journal for
housing professionals in the UK, families are going without food;
they are unable to afford a full weekly food shop due to what Crisis
says is a housing benefit shortfall.

Rent being a
priority payment to keep a roof over their heads, some households
across England are being forced to give up a large part of their
weekly food shop in order to keep up with rent payments, says the
Charity.

Crisis says that
available data shows that the housing benefit shortfall, the amount
of an individual’s rent not covered by housing benefit, is equal to
families having to give up at least a quarter of the national average
weekly food shop. This would be for a small family in 70 of the
country’s 152 Broad Rental Market Areas.

“Broad Rental
Market Areas” are designated by the government and are used to
determine how much housing benefit private renters across the UK
receive.

According Crisis,
central London, where rents are among the highest in the country, has
the highest housing benefit shortfall. The average rent for the
cheapest third of two-bedroom properties is £523.56 compared with a
housing benefit rate of £320.74 says Crisis. This leaves a shortfall
of £202.82.

According to the
charity, the average national weekly food shop for a small family
(two adults and two children) is calculated at £59, meaning
foregoing the weekly food shop still does not cover the shortfall for
a London family.

Similarly, outside
of London in other expensive areas such as Cambridge, claimants are
experiencing high housing benefit shortfalls of around £36, which
equates to 61% of the average £59 weekly shop.

In Leicester, the
cheapest third of two-bedroom properties comes at £124.27, compared
to the housing benefit of £109.32, leaving a shortfall of £14.95.
Once the claimant has paid of the shortfall there is only £44.05
left for the weekly shop, which is around 75% of the cost of an
average weekly shop.

The government has
already indicated that the freeze will be lifted in April, with an
estimated rise equal to the of Consumer Price Index rate of
Inflation at 1.7%. However, Crisis says this would not be enough to
make up shortfalls.

Chief executive of
Crisis, Jon Sparkes says that lifting the freeze was not enough to
help those unable to afford their rent, as LHA rates:

“A safe and stable
home is fundamental to our dignity and humanity, but every day we
hear of people becoming homeless or being pushed to the brink of
losing the roof over their heads because of the constant pressure of
trying to cover the cost of their rent.

“Paying the rent
means families have no option but to make huge sacrifices on other
basic necessities. We cannot let this continue.

“Housing benefit
is an important tool and could be the quickest and most effective way
to prevent homelessness, but due to years of cuts and freezes it
simply does not cover people’s rent.

“With the right
policies and investment, we can end homelessness. We urge the new
government to act now and invest in housing benefit.”

A Department for
Work and Pensions spokesperson told Inside Housing:

“Since 2011 we’ve
provided local authorities with more than £1bn to support the most
vulnerable with Discretionary Housing Payments, and in 2020/2021 we
will make an additional £40m available.”

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