RSN Joins Sector Call To Unfreeze Local Housing Allowance

The Rural Services Network (RSN) has joined more than 40 leading housing, homelessness, and anti-poverty organisations in signing a joint letter to the UK Government urging action to unfreeze Local Housing Allowance (LHA) in the forthcoming Budget.

The letter, sent to the Prime Minister, Chancellor and key Secretaries of State, warns that the continuing freeze on LHA is locking people out of homes they can afford, pushing families into hardship, and driving rising homelessness and temporary accommodation costs.

LHA determines the maximum level of rent support available to people on benefits who rent privately. Yet, despite surging rents across the country, rates have been frozen since April 2024. The letter highlights that nearly half of the 1.6 million private rented households receiving Universal Credit are now facing a shortfall between their rent and support received, forcing many to make impossible choices between paying for housing or essentials such as food and heating.

The coalition, which includes Crisis, Shelter, the Local Government Association, the Trussell Trust, the National Housing Federation, the National Residential Landlords Association and the Rural Services Network, calls for urgent Government intervention to restore fairness and stability in the housing safety net.

Specifically, the sector is calling for the Government to:

• Restore LHA rates to at least the 30th percentile of local rents from 2026/27, with a commitment to maintain this level for the duration of the Parliament; and
• Assess the wider social and economic impact of restoring rates to the median (50th percentile) to better understand how adequate housing support could reduce poverty and pressure on public services.

The joint letter warns that without urgent action, the Government’s own ambitions to tackle child poverty and homelessness will fall short. Research shows that restoring LHA to cover the cheapest 30% of local rents could lift 75,000 children and 125,000 adults out of poverty across the UK.

Kerry Booth, Chief Executive, Rural Services Network: For rural tenants, the housing crisis is often even more acute, limited affordable housing and higher transport and living costs mean that frozen LHA rates are hitting rural families particularly hard. Unfreezing these rates is an essential step in ensuring everyone, wherever they live, can access a safe, secure home.

The full letter and list of signatories are available here