Local Housing Allowance and the date of the next Budget

7 Jan 2020 01:51 PM

The charity Crisis is calling for the government to increase Local Housing Allowance levels, ending a four-year freeze introduced in 2016.

In data published in Inside Housing today, the charity says that the housing benefit shortfall equates to families having to give up at least a quarter of the national average weekly food shop for a small family. The shortfall is worst in London, with an average shortfall of £202.82 meaning that foregoing an entire food shop will not make up the difference between a family’s rent and their housing benefit entitlement.

In May last year, the RLA backed a new campaign launched by homeless charity Crisis, asking the government to commit to restoring Local Housing Allowance rates to support benefits tenants struggling to pay their rent.

More on this story can be read in this Inside Housing article.

Date of the next budget announced

The Government has announced that the next Budget will take place on
Wednesday 11 March 2020.

The Chancellor is expected to set out plans in the March Budget to:

• open a new chapter for the UK’s economy and prepare it for the decade ahead
• deliver on the Government’s promises on tax, to help tackle the cost of living for hard-working people
• make good on the commitment to level up and spread opportunity, including by investing billions of pounds across the country

It comes as the Queens Speech last month outlined some of the Government’s other intentions relating to the private rented sector, including

• A commitment to scrapping Section 21
• Plans to improve the current Section 8 process
• The introduction of lifetime deposits for tenants
• Plans to continue to develop and implement measures to wider access to and expand the scope of the database of rogue landlords and property agents giving greater powers to drive improvements in standards, and empowering tenants to make an informed choice about who they rent from.

Click here for the full press release