Steve Witherden, Labour MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, was due to be speaking at our Local Housing Allowance and Homes in Wales webinar on Tuesday 11 November. Unfortunately, unexpected circumstances meant he couldn’t make it, but here’s what he was planning to say:
I’m Steve, Member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, and I’m really pleased to join you today for this important discussion on Shelter Cymru’s latest report.
I’d like to start by saying a huge thank you to Shelter Cymru, and to Robin and Lauren, for the outstanding work that you and your team have done in pulling this report together.
It shines a light on one of the most urgent issues facing communities across Wales and it gives us a route forward.
Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr and Wales
Access to housing is one of the biggest issues raised in my constituency. In fact, housing-related problems are the second most common type of casework that comes through my office.
And we know that it reflects a wider and deeply worrying picture across Wales.
We are facing a severe shortage of affordable properties to buy or rent.
Tenants are being forced to pay far above the odds for homes that are too often unsafe or unsuitable – properties plagued by mold, damp and cold.
We are also seeing record levels of homelessness – and, tragically, people are dying while homeless.
This shows the weakness of our social safety net, and the urgent need for a stronger system that truly protects people when they fall on hard times.
Local Housing Allowance
When the Local Housing Allowance (LHA) was first introduced by the last Labour Government back in 2008, it was designed to ensure that housing benefit could cover rents in the lowest 50% of the local market.
However, that principle has been steadily eroded. The Conservative government reduced the level to the 30th percentile, and since then, years of freezes, cuts and soaring rents have completely undermined the system.
The current Government has confirmed another freeze – from April 2025 through to at least 2026, and very likely beyond.
As a result, LHA now covers only 1% of private rents in Wales, and just 2.4% in England. That is simply untenable.
The report
This report does an excellent job of setting out the scale of those shortfalls and highlighting the urgent need to end the freeze. It makes a compelling case for restoring fairness to the housing system – for ensuring that people have access to safe, secure homes, and for re-balancing the power between tenants and landlords.
I fully support its recommendations:
- The UK Government must commit to an annual uplift to the LHA, in line with the most up-to-date rent data, starting with an immediate announcement in the Autumn Budget later this month.
- We need to restore the LHA to the median rent level – covering the lowest 50% of private rents in each area, in line with the Welsh Government’s position.
Call to action
I’m calling on the Chancellor to take decisive action in the upcoming Budget – just two weeks tomorrow.
I have tabled an Early Day Motion – number 2202 – on the freezing of the LHA.
If you are working with MPs or have the opportunity to raise this issue, please encourage them to sign on. The motion calls on the Government to bring forward proposals in the forthcoming Budget to permanently restore LHA rates to at least the 30th percentile of local rents – and ultimately to return to the 50th percentile, where they should be.
Conclusion
I want to thank Shelter Cymru once again for your tireless work in producing this report, for your advocacy, and for the support you offer to people across Wales.
Our message today is clear and simple: restore housing benefit so that it reflects the real cost of rent.
The Government has the power to prevent thousands more families from being forced into homelessness – it needs to act with compassion.
Thank you.
Thank you to Steve Witherden MP for his support with this campaign.
11 November 2025
