An industry coalition of over 40 housing, landlord and homelessness organisations have urged the government to unfreeze the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the budget.
The Cutting the Cost Coalition is backed by the Mayor of London and is calling on HM Treasury to restore LHA rates to the 30th percentile of local rents.
Additionally, the group is calling for the introduction of annual uplifts so that support keeps pace with the real cost of renting.
Groups that have signed the letter include Propertymark, the National Residential Landlords Association, The Chartered Institute of Housing, Shelter and Housing Rights.
“While we support the UK government’s commitment to deliver 1.5m new homes and the welcome announcement at the spending review of £39bn investment in social and affordable homes in England, we have real and pressing concerns that the ongoing freeze on LHA is leaving people up and down the length of the country unable to find or maintain an affordable home,” reads the letter.
“It is resulting in a surge in demand for homelessness services and an increase in the use of costly temporary accommodation.
“Without a stable home, people are being pushed out of work and there is heightened pressure on public services.”
The coalition have argued that freezing LHA rates have burdened English councils with over £700m in unrecoverable costs in the past five years.
This means nearly 170,000 are in temporary accommodation, with English councils spending £2.8bn last year on this.
