Local Housing Allowance

That this House notes that in November 2024 there were 1,984,510 households receiving Housing Benefit, 1,608,502 households receiving the Universal Credit housing element for private housing, and 2,158,694 receiving the same for social housing; further notes that housing allowance is designed to meet rental costs for the lowest one third of privately rented houses in a given area, but that according to research carried out by Crisis and Zoopla published in April 2025, only 2.7% of properties were affordable to recipients of housing benefit; expresses deep concern that the levels of housing allowance have been frozen at their April 2024 level but that Office for National Statistics data shows that rental costs have increased 5.5% from September 2024; also notes research indicating that 72% of the public believe there is a housing crisis which has been formally declared in Scotland; believes that the housing crisis is exacerbated by restricting access to the private rental market; and calls on the Government to review Local Housing Allowance with an aim of making the lowest third of local rental properties affordable, as well as considering linking the benefit to rental market inflation.