Universal Credit LHA rates 2026 to 2027 published

The Department for Work and Pensions published Universal Credit Local Housing Allowance rates for 2026 to 2027 on 30 January 2026¹. The data covers monthly rates for England, Scotland and Wales from April 2026 to March 2027¹. The page was last updated on 8 April 2026¹.

The publication consists of three separate CSV files, one each for England, Scotland and Wales¹. The England file is 9.01 KB, the Scotland file 1.18 KB and the Wales file 1.28 KB¹. The rates are set by Broad Rental Market Area, described in the data as "an area relating to access to facilities and services containing a variety of residential lettings across which Local Housing Allowances are determined"¹. The data also uses the Shared Accommodation Rate, which applies to single people under 35 claiming the housing element of Universal Credit¹.

The 8 April 2026 update corrected a date error in the header of the monthly rates files. The department said:

The page's details section states that the data sets out monthly rates "from 2025 to 2026", which does not match the 2026 to 2027 period given in the title and the document names¹. The rates themselves are not reproduced in the text of the publication; they are held in the CSV files¹.

Why it matters for households

Local Housing Allowance rates set the maximum amount of rent that the housing element of Universal Credit can cover for private renters in England, Scotland and Wales¹. The rates are set by Broad Rental Market Area, so the figure that applies depends on where a claimant rents, and a separate Shared Accommodation Rate applies to single claimants under 35¹. The published data covers the twelve months from April 2026 to March 2027, so the rates in the files are the ones that apply to housing element awards over that period¹. The rates are also used in Housing Benefit for private tenants, and the same area definitions apply to both¹.

The figures are published as CSV files rather than as tables on the page, so a claimant or adviser checking a specific area needs to open the file for the relevant nation¹. The publication does not state how the 2026 to 2027 rates compare with the previous year's rates, and no comparison figures are given in the text¹.

What happens next

The rates take effect from April 2026 and run to March 2027¹. The page was last updated on 8 April 2026 to correct the date error in the file headers¹. No further updates are listed¹.