Local Housing Allowance (LHA) is the mechanism by which Housing Benefit (HB) and the Universal Credit housing element (UCHE) are calculated for private renters. The freezing of LHA from 2020 (and other reforms since 2010) meant support for housing costs within the benefits system decreased, causing significant hardship among many of the people Citizens Advice supports. The single-year uprating in April2024 has not undone all of the impacts of recent LHA policies, and re-freezing LHA from LHA from April 2025 would cause additional hardship.
