G15 calls on government to prioritise struggling households in the Autumn Statement

Fiona Fletcher-Smith, Chair of the G15 network of housing associations and CEO at L&Q said: “London’s housing emergency requires an urgent response. The G15 is calling on the government to prioritise support for struggling households in the Autumn Statement and commit to investing in green, healthy and affordable homes.

The government should:

• Increase benefits in line with September’s inflation figure (CPI), including the overall benefit cap.
• Scrap the freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates.
• Set out a clear path to net zero and work with social landlords to make homes greener and more energy efficient.

Almost 7 in 10 social housing residents living in homes provided by G15 members are receiving support through Universal Credit or Housing Benefit. This vital lifeline is many people’s only source of income.

If benefits are not increased in line with September’s CPI inflation rate, 4.7 million households will lose at least £500 a year (Resolution Foundation).

The Government must act - and increasing benefits in line with inflation is a vital step to providing our residents with much-needed security this winter.

We are also calling for an end to the freeze on Local Housing Allowance rates (LHA). A chronic shortage of social housing has pushed record numbers of renters into the private rental sector.

With support for private rented housing frozen since 2020, 60,000 households are facing the risk of homelessness if LHA rates aren’t increased (London Councils).

The Autumn Statement is also an opportunity for the government to get the UK on track to deliver its climate targets by 2050.

G15 members own or manage almost 850,000 homes across the country, and house one in ten Londoners. We have a long-term interest in our homes, and are determined to make them warmer, greener and healthier whilst bringing down energy bills.

A recommitment to the full Social Housing Decarbonisation Fund would provide the certainty we need to plan, contract for and deliver the large scale retrofit projects required to meet net zero.”