LHA failed to cover rent for over half of private renters on Universal Credit in England

Local Housing Allowance (LHA) did not cover the rent for over half of private renters in receipt of Universal Credit in England by November 2025, according to a briefing published by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF) on 13 April 2026¹. The figure was 54%¹.

JRF said LHA rates were frozen in 2024, so the support available reflects 30th percentile rents in the year to September 2023, while rents have risen by 16% since September 2023¹. Private rental inflation peaked at 9.1% in March 2024 and averaged 8.7% across that year¹. In the less than two years since the UK general election, JRF said, UK rents rose by an average of nearly 8%, or almost £1,200 more a year¹.

The briefing also set out how much of their income private renters spend on housing, based on MHCLG data it cites. Renters spent 34% of their incomes on rent on average in 2024-25, the same ratio as in 2013-14, compared with 19% for mortgagors and 28% for social renters¹. In London, private renters spent 46% of their incomes on rents on average in 2023-24¹. For private renters in the lowest income quintile, the average proportion of household income spent on rent in 2023-24 was 63%, with median expenditure of 50%¹.

Source: JRF briefing, citing MHCLG¹

JRF said around 1.4 million private renters report receiving support through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit, while around 2.1 million do not¹. It added that even if LHA were rebased to median local rents, an estimated 450,000 high housing-cost, low-income households would still face a shortfall between their subsidy and their actual rent¹.

The briefing also reported that around 28% of families with children in the private rented sector could not comfortably afford their housing costs, compared with 23% of private renters without children and 14% of families with children buying with a mortgage¹. Four in ten (40%) private renting families with children were worried they might have to move home in the next year, against 20% of social renting families with children and 9% of those buying with a mortgage¹.

Why it matters for households

For private renters in England who claim Universal Credit, the housing element is normally calculated using LHA rates rather than the actual rent, so where LHA sits below the rent the household meets the difference from other income. JRF's finding is that this gap applied to 54% of such households by November 2025¹. The rates in force reflect rents in the year to September 2023, and rents have risen 16% since then¹.

The pressure is concentrated among lower-income renters. JRF reports that the lowest income quintile of private renters spent 63% of household income on rent on average in 2023-24¹, and that around 2.1 million private renters report no support through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit¹. Rules on who qualifies for the housing element, and how it is calculated, are set out in the site's guide to help with rent, with the alternative legacy route covered in Housing Benefit vs Universal Credit Housing Costs.

JRF also notes that the private rented sector grew by 2.7 million homes between 2000 and 2020 and now makes up a fifth of housing stock in England and Wales, while social housing fell from 31% of stock in 1980 to 17% in 2020¹. It says the sector is now home to 24% of children in England, up from 8% in 2000¹.

What happens next

JRF said it is examining how the Government could ease rent affordability pressures on renters, with an interim report due in May¹. No date for that report beyond May, and no government response to the briefing, has been reported¹.