The housing benefit rates freeze according to a trade body is a “travesty”  that the government must scrap immediately as it continues to punish tenants because of inadequate supply of housing.

The trade body’s representative warned the attendees of this at a Labour Party conference fringe event which it held with think tank DEMOS.

When facing questions about how the freeze had impacted landlords and tenants the trade body’s Chris Norris summarised it as “completely unworkable”. He explained his viewpoint that the freeze puts a “brake on social mobility, a brake on access [to rented housing] and a brake on investment” which has seriously impacted the number of new rental homes.

The government housing benefit rates remain frozen for the third year running which makes the benefit support applicable to market rents in 2020 rather than current prices.

The Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), says that only 5 per cent of rental homes advertised on Zoopla are affordable for housing benefit recipients because of the freeze.

The trade body demands the government to unfreeze the rates immediately or else be responsible for causing the ever growing number of claimants being unable to afford suitable accommodation.

One of the attendees at the fringe event, Stephen Cowan, the Hammersmith and Fulham Council leader, who is leading an independent review of the private rented sector for Labour, said the private rented sector has a “vital role” to play.

However Cowan also stated the importance of supporting housing supply increases across all sectors.

Norris agreed with Cowan’s sentiment but sent out a stark warning that government policies affecting the PRS have failed renters as there are no real incentives to encourage much needed levels of private rented homes’ investment.

He said that the policies had made it untenable for tenants as they had little or no choice where they could live, which in many cases has led them having to accept poor standards of housing from ‘rogue’ landlords.

Norris said: “We welcome the recognition from all the panellists of the importance of the private rented sector.

“If they win power, Labour will need to tackle fundamental challenges in the rental market. It will need to tackle the chronic lack of private rented homes which is making it harder and harder for renters to find anywhere to live.

“The unjust housing benefit freeze will need to be scrapped, and a future Labour Government will need to do more to root out those landlords providing unsafe housing and bringing the sector into disrepute.