A lasting commitment to adequate housing support
LHA sets the maximum housing support many private renters can receive through Housing Benefit or Universal Credit. Rates depend on where people live and their household circumstances.
Our central ask – which is echoed by Independent Age – is straightforward: restore rates to at least the 30th percentile of local rents and uplift them annually. This would ensure support continues to reflect the cheaper end of each local market, rather than losing value whenever rents rise. We have also called for the UK Government to consider moving to the 50th percentile when public finances allow.
We recognise that LHA is not intended to cover every rent in every area. However, freezing support while housing costs rise leaves tenants having to find an increasing share of their rent from money needed for other essentials. It also makes it harder for households receiving benefits to access and sustain a tenancy.
Supporting tenancies across the UK
The consequences extend beyond individual household budgets. Inadequate housing support increases the risk of arrears, tenancy breakdown and homelessness, placing further pressure on councils and temporary accommodation.
Although housing policy is devolved, LHA rates remain reserved to Westminster, making action by the Chancellor essential. Restoring support would also strengthen confidence among landlords and agents letting to households receiving benefits.
We have repeatedly made the case for change
Ahead of the 2023 Autumn Budget, we urged the Chancellor to reset housing support and highlighted the shortfalls facing low-income households. We also submitted evidence to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee, explaining how inadequate LHA rates were excluding vulnerable tenants from parts of the rental market.
We welcomed the subsequent uplift from April 2024, following years of campaigning. At the time, we warned that freezing rates again would allow the same problem to return and continued to press for annual increases linked to market rents.
In March 2024, we backed the Work and Pensions Committee’s recommendation for an annual uprating guarantee. In October 2025, we joined more than 40 housing, landlord and homelessness organisations in another call for the freeze to be lifted. We continue to work with politicians and organisations across the sector to secure reform.
Older renters show the cost of delay
Independent Age’s analysis found that 69% of pension-age private renters receiving Housing Benefit assessed under LHA faced a gap between their benefit and rent in March 2026, up from 65% a year earlier.
Six in ten respondents receiving Housing Benefit were cutting back on essentials to afford rent; more than a quarter were reducing heating, while 14% were spending less on food.
The report also describes older people unable to move from homes that no longer meet their needs because smaller or accessible properties were unavailable or unaffordable, while moving away could mean losing established support networks.
Emergency payments cannot replace adequate LHA
In August 2026, we wrote to Baroness Sherlock, Minister of State at the Department for Work and Pensions, after she highlighted Crisis and Resilience Fund housing payments as help for private tenants in England facing rent shortfalls.
The Fund offers a much-needed safety net for people in short-term difficulty, but it cannot replace adequate support for ongoing rental costs, as illustrated by Independent Age’s findings. A person with a fixed income, such as a pensioner, has limited ability to change their financial situation. Individuals facing rent shortfalls each month need reliable housing support, alongside access to suitable homes.
