Housing benefit capped despite rising rents
Around 67,000 households are currently affected by the Benefit Cap, 70% of whom are single parents.
Recently released statistics from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) show that 63,000 households have their Housing Benefit capped, and a further 4,000 households have their Universal Credit capped.
The Benefit Cap is a limit on the total amount of some benefits that working-age people can receive. The cap ranges from £13,400 per year to £23,000 per year depending on your location and circumstance.
Benefit Cap in numbers
- Since the Benefits Cap was introduced in 2013, over 170,000 households have had their Housing Benefit capped – 7,200 of whom have been capped in the last 90 days.
- A staggering 7 in 10 households affected by the Housing Benefit Cap are single parents, and a total of 93% of households affected by the cap have children.
- The Benefits Cap on housing entitlement remains in place despite rising rents. In fact, the cap was made even more stringent in 2016 – 78% of those who have been capped, have been done so since the introduction of lower cap levels that year.
- Average rents in England and Wales grew by over £75 in 2017 and the average rent is now £873, according to Your Move.
- Figures suggest that 45% of capped households have their Housing Benefit capped by more than £50 a week.
Pritie Billimoria, Head of Communications at Turn2us, said:
“We hear far too frequently that the Benefits Cap is causing more problems for people already struggling to make ends meet.
“The cap is disproportionality affecting single parents, and many of those that come to us have gone through tragic upheaval such as fleeing a violent relationship.
“We want to see measures introduced so that the most vulnerable are protected.”