Murray: Chancellor must close rent gap for local renters

Susan Murray, MP for Mid Dunbartonshire and Liberal Democrat Scottish Affairs spokesperson, has written to the Chancellor, John Healey, asking him to unfreeze the Local Housing Allowance and to align the support given to private renters on universal credit with rising rent costs.  

Ms Murray points to how hard it is to get a council home locally. In August 2026, East Dunbartonshire Council allocated only 40 homes, with 3,587 applications on its housing list.

That leaves many people on low incomes with no choice but to rent privately. Private renters are then entitled to the Local Housing Allowance. It is meant to cover the rent on the cheapest three in ten homes in an area. However, the Local Housing Allowance has been frozen since April 2024, while rents have kept rising.

In East Dunbartonshire, the allowance for a one-bedroom home is £126.58 a week. Scottish Government figures show the rent it is supposed to cover has risen to £143.84 a week. That leaves renters who rely on it about £17 a week short, or around £900 a year.

Ms Murray has asked the Government to bring the allowance back in line with local rents in the Budget on 28 October, and to raise it every year after that.

Commenting, Ms Murray said:

"There are thousands of applications on the housing list in East Dunbartonshire and only a few dozen homes come up each month. This is not a problem reserved to my constituency; it is an issue seen all across Scotland and the UK. For a lot of people on low incomes, renting privately is the only option they have.

"But housing support for people on Universal Credit or Housing Benefit has not moved in more than two years, while rents have kept going up. Someone who relies on it to rent a one-bedroom flat in my constituency can be around £900 a year short, and that comes out of money they need for food and heating.

"This support is set by the UK Government, so it is for the Chancellor to fix. I have asked him to use this month's Budget to bring it back in line with local rents, and to keep it there every year."

"People are being left to choose between paying their rent and putting food on the table.”