Rents are rising, but housing benefit is frozen. At the Autumn Budget on 26 November, the Chancellor must put this right.
Join the campaignMillions of us are struggling to afford the safe, stable home we need for a healthy life.
With too few social homes, people on low incomes are forced to rely on unaffordable private renting.
But as rents have soared, housing benefit has been frozen – leaving people hundreds of pounds short every month.
This forces people to make impossible choices between rent and essentials like food and heating, pushing many deeper into poverty and towards homelessness and ill health.
Yet the UK Government plans to keep housing benefit frozen. The Chancellor has the power to put this right at the Autumn Budget on 26 November.
To deliver a future free from homelessness, she must restore housing benefit to match the real cost of rent. This will help millions of people keep the safe home they need for good health.
But she won’t act unless we demand it. Email the Chancellor today and call on her to unfreeze housing benefit now.
Housing benefit is meant to help people on low incomes pay their rent. The amount you can receive is set by the Local Housing Allowance rate (LHA).
It’s typically paid as part of Universal Credit and is a lifeline for 2 million households privately renting in Great Britain.
It is meant to cover the cheapest 30% of properties in a local area, but it has been frozen several times for long periods.
Now just 2.7% of properties in Great Britain are affordable for people relying on it.
The UK Government plans to keep LHA frozen.
As rents and other costs are likely to rise during this time, this is effectively a cut that will leave people worse off than before. That's not right.
of properties are affordable to renters needing housing benefit in Great Britain.
is the average shortfall between housing benefit and the cheapest 30% of rents for a 2-bed property in Great Britain.
are facing the difficult reality of homelessness in Great Britain.
Those of us who rent face shortfalls of hundreds of pounds a month between our rent and housing benefit.
For example, the average shortfall for a 3-bed home in England is the same as an entire month’s gas, electricity and food spend for a typical family.
This severely restricts people's options, pulling them into poverty and homelessness.
The stress of making ends meet or being forced to live in poor quality temporary accommodation because a permanent home is out of reach, can all take a serious toll on mental and physical health.
The UK Government plans to keep LHA frozen.
As rents and other costs are likely to rise, this is effectively a cut that will leave people worse off than before.
Explore the map to find out. Based on data from our partners Zoopla.
When Abel's relationship broke down, he had nowhere to go. He stayed in a hostel for about two weeks but couldn’t find somewhere to live. This meant that Abel lost his job and was forced to sleep rough.
“Rough sleeping really impacted me. I became depressed. For five months, I hadn’t slept on a bed. Can you imagine?”
Abel got help from Crisis to search for somewhere to live. “Housing is really expensive where I live, and the amount I could get from housing benefit wasn’t enough."
“This made things challenging. It took us five months to find an affordable place. On top of that, not everyone is willing to accept a tenant on Universal Credit.”
Abel's experience highlights how inadequate housing benefits can trap people in homelessness and harm their mental and physical health.
Finding an affordable home gave Abel the foundation to rebuild a healthy life.
“Once I found a house, I found a job immediately. That’s what I needed. I quit the antidepressants I was taking, now I don’t need them.”
Housing is fundamental to our health. Poor housing conditions, unaffordable rents and homelessness pose significant physical and mental health risks.
Poor quality housing can directly harm health through dampness, overcrowding and cold. Meanwhile, high housing costs are a key driver of poverty, and poverty exacerbates poor health.
This financial and personal strain is made worse by the unaffordability of private renting.
Supported by Health Equals, this report sets out how the UK Government can fix this.
Read our recommendations for how to improve access to decent, genuinely affordable homes, so everyone in Great Britain can benefit from this essential building block for a healthy life.
In addition to restoring housing benefits, we’re urging the UK government to step up and deliver a future free from homelessness for us all.
We have a once in a generation opportunity to make lasting change in our country.
Join our campaign to urge the UK Government to build more social homes, fix our support systems and prevent homelessness before it starts.
