End Housing Insecurity Now
...The Policy Breakdown Unfreeze Local Housing Allowance Rates Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Rates set the level of Housing Benefit payments and the Housing Element of Universal Credit. They are designed...
There are 9 million renters in the UK living in poverty.
We’re calling on the Government to keep people in their homes.
Our petition reached an incredible 11,910 signatures!
Right now, too many people are at risk of losing their homes. Skyrocketing rents are outpacing Government support for those on the lowest incomes, and renters are being forced to skip meals, forgo heating their homes, or go into debt over essentials just to keep a roof over their head.
This is an impossible balancing act that is driving families out of their homes. 242,000 households have already been made homeless.
We’re urging the Prime Minister to make sure everyone can meet their essential needs and stay in their homes by:
- Unfreezing Local Housing Allowance rates
- Increasing Universal Credit to £120 a week for a single adult and £200 for a couple.
We should all be able to afford to eat, cover our bills and pay the rent. This will give every one of us the foundation we need to have a secure home and the chance to fulfil our future potential.
Social justice starts at home
At the Big Issue Group, we’re committed to supporting people out of poverty. Whether it’s helping our vendors to find secure housing and cover their essentials; investing in social enterprises that tackle poverty; or supporting people into work through Big Issue Recruit.
Security for Private Renters
We’re also calling on the Government to end no-fault evictions for private renters, one of the leading drivers of homelessness.The Renters Reform Bill is our chance to make sure renters in the private sector finally have the security of tenure they need.
The Policy Breakdown
Unfreeze Local Housing Allowance Rates
Local Housing Allowance (LHA) Rates set the level of Housing Benefit payments and the Housing Element of Universal Credit. They are designed to make sure Housing Benefit payments keep up with local rent costs, but they have been frozen since 2020.
That means while rents have been going up, Housing Benefit payments haven’t. Those on the lowest incomes have been left to make up the shortfall on their rent by cutting back on essentials like food and heating.
This isn’t fair. We’re urgently calling on the Government to unfreeze LHA rates so that Housing Benefit and Housing Element payments can cope with today’s housing costs.
Increase Universal Credit
The cost of living crisis has left millions of people struggling to afford basics like food and heating. Essentials like these are often the first casualties for anyone who is struggling to pay the rent and at risk of losing their home.
We need a welfare system that supports all of us to keep a roof over our heads and live well underneath it. But the one we have right now isn’t doing that. Our benefits have never been linked to an estimate of how much money people actually need to meet their essential needs, and that has to change.
We’re urging the Government to increase Universal Credit payments to £120 a week for a single adult and £200 for a couple. We’re also supporting the Trussel Trust and Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s call for an ‘Essentials Guarantee’ that would legally link Universal Credit to the cost of essentials like food, utilities and vital household goods.
