The lowest-income earners are finding it almost impossible to find a rental property in the year 2023, and moving into the future. According to Nick Millican, the average low-income earning household will find themselves an average of 1,370 pounds short of monthly expenses on a monthly basis. 

The average rental throughout London has risen by 14.2% over what is deemed an affordable level of living. And, Nick Millican comments, the average low-income family in London is now paying about 46% of their income just to cover their rental costs. 

The poorest tenants are the ones being hit the hardest by the rental increases. All of this is due to the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt announcing a temporary unfreezing of the local housing allowance (LHA) in his 2023 statements to the council. Nick Millican recalls how the LHA rates were previously frozen for the past four years, which meant that prices could not go up. 

There´s more on this concern. Hunt announced a reset coming for rental rates in April of 2024, which should ideally mean that housing will be more affordable to the bottom 30% of income earners than it has been in the past few years. Nick Milliacan comments, as rental rates are predicted to rise by up to 8.5% more by 2025.

However the reprieve will only be temporary if LHA chooses to freeze housing prices again in the future. Rents are what cost millions throughout the United Kingdom the most every month, and that will continue to occur unless a more permanent fix comes into play in the future months. As inflation is still at approximately 6.7% its unlikely that this relief will last permanently for many low-income earners.