The upcoming freeze for housing benefits could push half of tenants into poverty, the National Residential Landlords Association (NRLA) has warned.
Housing benefit rates are being frozen from April 2025.
According to government data analysed by the NRLA, as of November 2024 over 1.6 million privately rented households were in receipt of Universal Credit with a housing cost support element included.
Of this group, 48% — or 772,731 households — face a shortfall between their housing support and monthly rent.
The NRLA has warned that freezing LHA rates will “undermine the ability” of claimants to prove they can sustain a tenancy, particularly amid greater competition for a limited supply of rental homes.
It is calling for rates to be re-pegged to at least the lowest 30% of rents for the duration of this parliament.
“It beggars belief that ministers are making it harder for those reliant on housing benefits to sustain their tenancies, especially in an already fiercely competitive rental market,” added Ben Beadle, CEO at the NRLA.
“Tenants shouldn’t be expected to endure the uncertainty of not knowing what support they can access from one year to the next. It is time to end the insecurity they face and unfreeze housing benefit rates.”
