Almost 60,000 Londoners living in the private rented sector are likely to become homeless over the next six years if the government maintains the freeze on Local Housing Allowance (LHA), according to new analysis for London Councils.

LHA rates are used to calculate Housing Benefit for tenants renting from private landlords.  In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, the government lifted LHA rates in April 2020 to cover the 30th percentile of local market rents. However, since this point LHA rates have once again been frozen – despite a dramatic rise in rents over the same period.One in seven London private renters are reliant on LHA to meet their housing costs.

Cllr Darren Rodwell, London Councils’ Executive Member for Regeneration, Housing & Planning, said: "Raising Local Housing Allowance is vital for getting a grip on the homelessness crisis.

“London is the epicentre of the national homelessness crisis. The situation is increasingly unmanageable and requires urgent government action. We cannot continue in this disastrous direction.

“Just as the government boosted LHA during the Covid-19 pandemic to prevent a wave of mass homelessness, we need a similar emergency response to the situation today. An increase in LHA will help low-income households pay their rents and avoid homelessness, which can be so devastating to families and bring massive costs to local services.”

The APPG for London and the APPG on Apprenticeships hosted a joint event in Parliament on Monday to explore with apprentices and businesses in London what can be done to ensure apprenticeships continue to be a way to boost social mobility.

Representing London Councils, our Executive Member for Skills and Employment Mayor Rokhsana Fiaz OBE highlighted that the decreasing number of young people starting apprenticeships since the introduction of the apprenticeship levy and the pandemic was particularly alarming in an age of disruption, where existing jobs are changing fast, or won't exist in the future.

London Councils is working to promote apprenticeship opportunities across the capital. You can find out more about the opportunities in your borough by using our interactive map here.

London Councils hosts the annual London Borough Apprenticeship Awards that recognise the exceptional impact of apprentices working across London local government in a range of sectors including finance, housing, regeneration, and waste and recycling. You can read more about this years’ winners here

Simon Hoare has been appointed Local Government Minister at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities as part of the Prime Minister’s reshuffle,on Monday, which also saw Lee Rowley appointed Housing Minister and Greg Hands appointed Minister for London.

You can find a comprehensive list of all the Ministerial appointments in Monday's reshuffle here.

Dawn Atkinson (Labour) was elected ward councillor for Lewisham's Deptford ward in a by-election last week (9 November).

You can read the result in full on Lewisham's website here.