Freeze in DWP’s housing support increasing risk of homelessness – minister

A freeze on housing support for private tenants “substantially increases” the risk of homelessness, a Scottish Government minister has said.

Housing Minister Paul McLennan has written to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) calling for an increase in local housing allowance rates, which are used to calculate universal credit payments for private tenants.

It has been frozen in cash terms since 2020 and the freeze is due to continue into 2024.

Last year the Scottish Government handed £84.1 million to local authorities to support people with housing costs.

Mr McLennan said: “Three successive years of freezing local housing allowance rates is making the private rented sector simply unaffordable for many households.

“While we have taken action within our powers to put a cap on in-tenancy rises, new rents are continuing to rise in many areas.

“This means private rented housing becomes increasingly less accessible to low-income households, and substantially increases their risk of homelessness.

“It is unacceptable that the UK Government’s welfare system is not able to support people.

“Freezing these rates works against the efforts of the Scottish Government to tackle poverty and homelessness.”

The SNP minister said the issue also meant displaced people from Ukraine struggled to find private tenancies.

He continued: “I have urged the Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride to end the rate freeze.

“If we did not have to spend so much mitigating the impact of UK Government welfare reforms, we could invest further in anti-poverty actions.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: “We’re helping ease the pressure of rising rents by maintaining 2020’s £1 billion boost to Local Housing Allowance rates, providing more than a million people with an extra £600 a year on average.

“This is on top of significant cost-of-living support which is providing households across the UK with around £3,300 this year. The UK government is also giving an extra £82 million to help people in Scotland with essential costs”