Leading homelessness charity ALABARÉ has joined forces with more than 40 other housing organisations to call for the Government to unfreeze housing benefits in next month’s Budget (Wednesday, 26 November).
An open letter has been sent out by a coalition of bodies and charities addressed to the Prime Minister, Keir Starmer MP, the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, MP, the Housing Secretary, Steve Reed MP, and the Work & Pensions Secretary, Pat McFadden MP.
It asks for a cap on housing benefits to be increased, to ensure fewer people are pushed to the brink of crisis, and ultimately towards homelessness.
The problem
The cost of private rental is increasing, according to the Office for National Statistics, with inflation remaining high – but there’s a call to unfreeze housing benefits as they have been largely unchanged since 2016, despite some rises in 2020 and 2024, under the previous Government.
Crisis suggests that only 2.7% of current private rental listings across the UK are affordable to people receiving housing benefits, with around 2 million households getting the payments.
The organisations that have signed the open letter, including ALABARÉ, are now calling for the Government to bring rates of the Local Housing Allowance back up to a level that covers at least the cheapest 30% of rents.
That move could lift 125,000 adults and 75,000 children out of poverty and potentially break the cycle of homelessness before it even starts.
Andrew Lord, Chief Executive of ALABARÉ, said:
“We support measures from the Government aimed at reducing the risk of homelessness, such as the pledge to build 1.5 million new homes, investing £39 billion into housing, and announcing £1 billion to tackle rough sleeping.
“However, unfreezing housing benefits could take their commitment one step further and take some of the intense pressure off households who might be having to choose between heating, eating, and paying the rent.
“Services like ALABARÉ’s are there to support those facing a crisis, but we would like to see as much support as possible to make sure fewer people need to turn to us. Changes to Local Housing Allowance would also ease the burden on other public services, so people can continue to work and remain happy and healthy, while feeling stable and secure.
“We’re pleased to have come together with other organisations to highlight such an important cause and encourage the Government to support some of the most vulnerable when considering their next Budget.”Supporting links: The open letter is available at https://www.cih.org/media/bn3cdgvm/joint-sector-letter-to-government-re-local-housing-allowance-freeze.pdf, the story has also been covered in the i Paper at https://inews.co.uk/news/housing/reeves-urged-boost-housing-benefit-budget-avoid-families-homeless-3971886
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