Conclusion 5

The government needs to increase and sustain Local Housing Allowance rates at the 30th percentile of local private rents. Doing so will help to prevent people from being pushed into homelessness due to private rent increases, will immediately unlock more homes to help councils move families and individuals on from temporary accommodation, and help stop people from becoming trapped in the cycle of homelessness. 48 Such an intervention would benefit all groups, but particularly Black households, given they are disproportionately affected by homelessness. We acknowledge that such a measure is not cost free, though some costs will be offset by reductions to the cost of temporary accommodation, but the increasing affordability gap between LHA and private rents and its negative impact on living standards is unsustainable. (Recommendation, Paragraph 45)