Stephen Timms
Chair, Work and Pensions Committee, Chair, Work and Pensions Committee
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what percentile of local rents the maximum local housing allowance rate is for each (a) home size and (b) broad rental market area.
John Healey
Shadow Secretary of State for Defence
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Written Statement of 13 January 2020, Welfare Update, what estimate he has made of the proportion of properties in each broad rental market area that will be affordable to local housing allowance claimants from April 2020.
Will Quince
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
In response to COVID-19, this Department has increased Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates to the 30th percentile of local market rents from April for Universal Credit and Housing Benefit claimants, giving additional financial support for private renters.
This means that 30% of properties in each broad rental market area (BRMA) in England, Scotland and Wales are within the LHA rate with the exception of 15 rates in central and inner London where the national maximum caps continue to apply. The national caps have also been increased and are now based on the Outer London LHA rate plus 20%.
The proportion of properties in central and inner London that are within the LHA rate are set out below:
BRMA | Room | 1 Bed | 2 Bed | 3 Bed | 4 Bed | |
30% | ||||||
Inner East London | 30% | 15%-20% | 25%-30% | 15%-20% | 30% | |
Inner North London | 30% | 15%-20% | 20%-25% | 15%-20% | 20%-25% | |
Inner South East London | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | 30% | |
Inner South West London | 30% | 25%-30% | 30% | 25%-30% | 20%-25% | |
Inner West London | 30% | 30% | 30% | 25%-30% | 30% | |
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