Monitoring the impact of changes to the Local Housing Allowance system of Housing Benefit – Research summary –

Summary

This is a summary of the interim report from the independent review, commissioned by the DWP, on the recent changes to the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) system of Housing Benefit (HB), covering the private rented sector (PRS) in Great Britain (GB).1 This report covers findings from five elements – face-to-face interviews with claimants, landlords and front-line housing and benefits advisors, in addition to spatial and econometric analyses of the impact of the changes. The spatial and econometric analyses are based primarily on national-level administrative data. The interviews are based in 19 case study areas in GB – it is not possible therefore to generalise from the interview findings to assume they represent an accurate national picture of the impact of the LHA measures.