Mayor calls for housing allowance boost

The Conservative Mayor said there was "no doubt" that ministers' decision to freeze Local Housing Allowance (LHA) three years ago had led to a rise in homelessness.

He wants ministers to supercharge levels of the allowance in a bid to stop thousands more tenants from becoming homeless.

The charity Crisis estimates that more than 6,000 households could be prevented from being pushed into homelessness and more than 35,000 children lifted out of poverty in the next three years in the UK if the Government restored levels of LHA.

Mr Street is backing the charity's Cover the Cost campaign, and has met with Work and Pensions Secretary Amber Rudd to discuss the issue.

“There is no doubt that the Government’s freezing of the local housing allowance rate has contributed to an increase in homelessness," he said.

“As private rents have gone up in the West Midlands – around 11 per cent in three years – the LHA benefit has remained the same since 2016.

"When you consider that is it any wonder people fall behind on their payments and end up being evicted – the most common reason behind homelessness in our region?

“Not only does the frozen LHA affect people’s ability to keep up with their rent, but it is also leading to many landlords skimping on the upkeep of properties, leaving tenants in poor-quality housing. This is a vicious cycle that needs to be addressed now, not after Brexit.

“Homelessness is a critical and complex issue that requires a collaborative approach to solve. In the West Midlands all our partners are working incredibly hard and we have seen some success, not least with our Housing First initiative with more than 70 homeless people having been given a home.

"However it is clear so much more needs to be done – and fast.

“By increasing the LHA to a level where 30 per cent of rented homes in any area are affordable to everyone, this would make a significant difference in both providing affordable accommodation and easing the burden on the NHS and public services as fewer people would fall into a spiral of health issues.

“We all have a moral duty to tackle homelessness, and these changes to the LHA would make an immediate and significant difference.”

As part of the campaign, new research estimates an investment boost of £3.3 billion in LHA over three years would unleash immediate net benefits of £2.1bn.

The charity has called for £820 million in the next year to get the ball rolling.