Housing benefits are frozen. But rents keep rising. This is forcing people into homelessness. Your MP has the power to challenge this.
Email your MPMillions of us are struggling to afford the safe, stable home we need for a healthy life.
With too few social homes, people on low incomes are forced to rely on unaffordable private renting.
But as rents have soared, housing benefits have been repeatedly frozen – often leaving people hundreds of pounds short.
This forces people to make impossible choices between rent and essentials like food and heating, pushing many deeper into poverty and towards homelessness.
The stress of making ends meet, or being forced to live in poor quality temporary accommodation because a permanent home is out of reach, can all take a serious toll on mental and physical health.
Yet the UK Government plans to keep housing benefits frozen until at least 2026 —while claiming they want to end homelessness.
To deliver a future free from homelessness, they must restore housing benefits to match the real cost of rent.
MPs have the power to challenge this — but they need to hear from you.
Housing benefits are meant to help people on low incomes with their rent. It’s paid as part of Universal Credit and is a vital lifeline for 1.9 million renters in Great Britain.
It is meant to cover the cheapest 30% of properties in a local area – but years of freezes mean that over time the support people receive is decreasing.
Now just 2.7% of properties in Great Britain are affordable for people relying on it.
The shortfall is pushing more people into poverty and towards homelessness. It also traps people in temporary accommodation as housing benefits is no longer sufficient to help them to rent privately.
The UK Government plans to keep housing benefits frozen until at least 2026.
As rents are likely to rise during this time, this is effectively a cut that will leave people worse off than before.
They must restore housing benefits, so it covers the true cost of rent.
of properties are affordable to renters needing housing benefits in Great Britain.
is the average shortfall between housing benefits and the cheapest 30% of rents for a 2-bed property in Great Britain.
are facing the difficult reality of homelessness in England.
Explore the map to find out. Based on data from our partners Zoopla.
Housing is a key building block of our health. Poor housing conditions, unaffordable rents and homelessness pose significant physical and mental health risks.
Poor quality housing can directly harm health through dampness, overcrowding and cold. Meanwhile, high housing costs are a key driver of poverty, and poverty exacerbates poor health.
This financial and personal strain is made worse by the unaffordability of private renting.
Supported by Health Equals, this report sets out how the UK Government can fix this.
Read our recommendations for how to improve access to decent, genuinely affordable homes, so everyone in Great Britain can benefit from this essential building block for a healthy life.
Julie and her son were forced to stay in temporary accommodation due to a lack of suitable affordable housing.
They had to share a room and had no access to cooking facilities.
Julie has mobility issues and needs suitable accommodation for her health. They have now moved into a permanent home.
“Home for health is so important. Because your stress is gone, like you know that tomorrow you’re going to be warm. You’re going to be fine. If you’re on the streets, you don’t know what tomorrow is going to bring, sofa surfing or in an unstable accommodation. In your own home, you feel so proud.”
Julie’s experience highlights how temporary accommodation can negatively impact health, and the importance of a stable home to someone’s wellbeing and health.
In addition to restoring housing benefits, we’re urging the UK government to step up and deliver a future free from homelessness for us all.
We have a once in a generation opportunity to make lasting change in our country.
Join our campaign to urge the UK Government to build more social homes, fix our support systems and prevent homelessness before it starts.
