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Email your MP: unfreeze housing benefit to prevent homelessness

At the UK Autumn Budget on 26 November, the Chancellor must unfreeze housing benefit.  

You can persuade your MP to write to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to add to the mounting pressure.

At the UK Autumn Budget on 26 November, the Chancellor must unfreeze housing benefit.  

You can persuade your MP to write to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, to add to the mounting pressure.

Thousands of people are being denied the foundation of a safe home because housing benefit doesn’t cover the cost of rent. 

If you rent privately, the gap between housing benefit and rent can run to hundreds of pounds a month. This means you might be faced with an impossible choice between buying food or putting the heating on, just to pay your rent.

If you’re experiencing homelessness or you have to move home, it’s almost impossible to find somewhere you can afford. Just 2.7% of private rent listings in Great Britain are affordable if you need housing benefit. 

This pressure is damaging people’s mental and physical health, while pushing many closer to losing their home – or prolonging their homelessness. 

Yet, all the indications are that the UK Government will keep housing benefit frozen for another year. This undermines their promise to get Britain back on track to ending homelessness. 

Let’s make sure MPs of all parties are putting pressure on the Chancellor to unfreeze housing benefit.  

Together, we can make this an issue MPs can’t ignore. So, email your MP, and together let’s win this vital change to prevent homelessness. 

What is housing benefit?

Housing benefit is payments to help people on low incomes pay their rent. The amount you can receive is set by the Local Housing Allowance rate (LHA). 

It’s typically paid as part of Universal Credit and is a lifeline for 2 million households privately renting in Great Britain. It’s paid to people in England, Scotland and Wales. 

It is meant to cover the cheapest 30% of properties in a local area, but it has been repeatedly frozen for long periods of time.

Now just 2.7% of properties in Great Britain are affordable for people relying on it. That’s unacceptable.

Email your MP

Enter your postcode to get started. You can view and edit your email to your MP on the next page.

Enter your postcode to get started. You can view and edit your email to your MP on the next page.

If you don’t have a permanent or fixed address with a postcode, you could use the postcode of a location where you spend a lot of your time (during the day or night). This might be a day service or night shelter, for example. Please see our privacy policy for how we process your data.

Thousands of people are being denied the foundation of a safe home because housing benefit doesn’t cover the cost of rent. 

If you rent privately, the gap between housing benefit and rent can run to hundreds of pounds a month. This means you might be faced with an impossible choice between buying food or putting the heating on, just to pay your rent.

If you’re experiencing homelessness or you have to move home, it’s almost impossible to find somewhere you can afford. Just 2.7% of private rent listings in Great Britain are affordable if you need housing benefit. 

This pressure is damaging people’s mental and physical health, while pushing many closer to losing their home – or prolonging their homelessness. 

Yet, all the indications are that the UK Government will keep housing benefit frozen for another year. This undermines their promise to get Britain back on track to ending homelessness. 

Let’s make sure MPs of all parties are putting pressure on the Chancellor to unfreeze housing benefit.  

Together, we can make this an issue MPs can’t ignore. So, email your MP, and together let’s win this vital change to prevent homelessness. 

What is housing benefit?

Housing benefit is payments to help people on low incomes pay their rent. The amount you can receive is set by the Local Housing Allowance rate (LHA). 

It’s typically paid as part of Universal Credit and is a lifeline for 2 million households privately renting in Great Britain. It’s paid to people in England, Scotland and Wales. 

It is meant to cover the cheapest 30% of properties in a local area, but it has been repeatedly frozen for long periods of time.

Now just 2.7% of properties in Great Britain are affordable for people relying on it. That’s unacceptable.