To ask the Minister for Communities (i) how many households in the private rented sector are in receipt of Local Housing Allowance (LHA), through (a) universal credit housing costs; and (b) housing benefit; (ii) how many of those households rents exceed the LHA; and (iii) to detail the median average gap between rent and the LHA, for each broad rental market area, for the most recent period for which data is available.

(i) In November 2023, there were 36,670 households in the private rented sector in receipt of Local Housing Allowance (LHA), through Universal Credit housing costs and 22,740 claimants in the private rented sector in receipt of LHA, through housing benefit.

(ii) Of the 36,670 households in receipt of LHA through Universal Credit in November 2023, 32,020 had rents that exceeded their LHA entitlement.

Of the 22,740 claimants in receipt of LHA through Housing Benefit in November 2023, 18,130 had rents that exceeded their LHA entitlement.

(iii) The median gap between rent and LHA entitlement in November 2023 for each broad rental market area is shown below for both Universal Credit households and Housing Benefit claimants.

Data Source: NIHE Housing Benefit Data and Universal Credit Full service system (UCFS) - November 2023

Note that due to retrospection of UCFS data UC figures are subject to change.

In producing the geographical analysis, records were attributed to an LHA area on the basis of their postcode. Not all records can be correctly allocated using this method and some cannot be allocated at all.

All claimant / household figures are rounded to the nearest ten.

Note that the rate of LHA used to calculate Housing Benefit/Universal Credit housing costs award depends on the area where the customer chooses to live, who lives with them and the number of bedrooms they need. This may have an impact on the median monthly difference as some customers may be under-occupying their property and will therefore have a larger shortfall between their eligible rent used to calculate their Housing Benefit/Universal Credit housing costs award and the contractual rent charged by their landlord.

The median figures above are an average across all household size requirements (number of bedrooms needed) and so the median difference will be affected by the characteristics of the cohort, including household size, within each BRMA. This should also be considered when drawing comparisons between UC and HB due to the differences in their caseload characteristics.