Freezing of Local Housing Allowance

That this House notes that when the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was introduced in 2008, it was intended to cover private rents up to the 50th percentile—that is, the lowest 50 per cent of rents in a local area—as a safety net to prevent poverty and homelessness; further notes that, due to subsequent policy changes and freezes, LHA is no longer fit for purpose and now covers only 1% of private rents in Wales and 2.4% in England; welcomes the proposal from leading homelessness charities to end the routine freezing of LHA and to uprate it annually in line with data on rents collected by the Office for National Statistics; further supports the restoration of LHA policy to the median rent level, so that it once again covers the lowest 50 per cent of private rents in each local area, in line with the Welsh Government’s position; and calls on the Government to bring forward proposals at the Budget to permanently restore LHA rates to at least the 30th percentile of local private rents, with a goal of returning to the 50th percentile, in order to prevent homelessness, tackle inequality and further rebalance the power of private tenants.