Housing allowance lag leaves renters choosing between rent, food and heating

Laura Braddock, a 39-year-old single mother in Wirral, Merseyside, pays £550 each month for a two-bedroom flat but receives only £425 in Local Housing Allowance, forcing her to cut meals and heating and eventually use a food bank. The Trussell Trust says more than half of private renters receiving housing support have gone without food or warmth in the last half-year because of this shortfall. According to the Resolution Foundation, the typical rent-allowance gap for low-income households is £158 per month, climbing to £324 in some London areas.

The charity proposes that the allowance be tied to the cheapest 30% of local rents, a change it estimates would lift 105,000 people out of severe hardship, including 40,000 children, at a cost of £2 billion a year. The Department for Work and Pensions highlighted its plan to build 1.5 million homes and noted that allowance rates are reviewed annually within the government’s fiscal context.