Ministers seek to tackle ‘significant hardship’ caused by housing payment freeze

The Scottish Government is pledging additional cash to help address the “significant hardship” it fears will be caused by freezing help given to private renters.

Up to £9 million is to be invested to help support families with children impacted by the freeze in local housing allowance.

The allowance provides help with rent bills for private tenants, but as part of the UK Government’s budget last year it has now been frozen until at least 2027.

Housing Secretary Mairi McAllan said the extra spending would “mitigate the freeze, as far as possible, for households with children in Scotland”.

She announced the action as she complained that the decision to freeze the local housing allowance for a second year “is causing significant hardship in our country”.

With Ms McAllan raising concerns that the freeze is “forcing families into poverty and driving homelessness”, the Scottish Government pledged to invest up to £9 million additional funding in discretionary housing payments.

These payments are used to help with housing costs, with Scottish ministers having already used them to mitigate the impact of the so-called “bedroom tax” – where benefits were cut if claimants had more bedrooms than they were deemed to need.

The increased spending will support an estimated 18,000 families with children to afford their rents, the Scottish Government has estimated.

Ms McAllan said that while taking the “right approach to local housing allowance could lift 75,000 children out of poverty in the UK”, she added that “unforgivably, the UK Government decided to freeze it for a second year while the cost of living has continued to spiral”.

The Housing Secretary, however, said: “Eradicating child poverty is this Government’s top priority and we will not stand by while families are pushed further into destitution.

“That is why we have taken the decision to mitigate the freeze, as far as possible, for households with children in Scotland.

“Scottish Government investment already ensures no one in Scotland needs to pay the UK Government’s Bedroom Tax.

“Now, thanks to this investment, the punitive impact of the UK Government’s freeze will be abated for thousands of households with children.”

The Housing Secretary said: “We believe everyone should have the opportunity of a safe, warm and affordable place to call home.

“This new investment, together with our other action to tackle the housing emergency, will help make this a reality.”

The UK Government has been contacted for comment.