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Collection

Housing Benefit: statistics on speed of processing

Speed of processing is a measure of the average time it takes to process a new Housing Benefit claim or a change of circumstance to an existing Housing Benefit claim.

Updates to this page

From:
Department for Work and Pensions
Published:
23 July 2013
Last updated:
29 July 2026
Show all updates

  1. Updated the latest release document title: January to March 2026 (quarter 4, financial year 2025 to 2026).

  2. Added information to 'User consultation on proposed changes to the frequency and timing of some DWP Official Statistics'.

  3. Information about when the 'User consultation on proposed changes to the frequency and timing of some DWP Official Statistics' ending.

  4. Removed reference to the 'User consultation on proposed changes to the frequency and timing of some DWP Official Statistics' as it ended 12 May 2026.

  5. Updated to include Housing Benefit statistics on speed of processing for 2025 to 2026 Quarter 3 information.

  6. Added information to the page about a user consultation on proposed changes to the frequency and timing of some DWP Official Statistics.

  7. Updated to include Housing Benefit statistics on speed of processing for 2025 to 2026 Quarter 2 information.

  8. Details added about two new data tables to be included in the January Housing Benefit speed of processing release.

  9. Added Housing Benefit statistics on speed of processing 2025 to 2026 to this collection.

  10. Updated the note on the page about the latest release of statistics. The latest release now includes data for January to March 2025.

  11. Added a link to the Housing Benefit statistics on speed of processing for 2024 to 2025.

  12. Updated the note on the page about a new breakdown of working age and pension age statistics - these are included in the latest release of statistics.

  13. Updated the note on the page about a new breakdown of working age and pension age statistics - these will be included in the next release of statistics, due to published on 31 July 2024.

  14. Information added asking for views on a proposed development to our routine Housing Benefit Speed of Processing Statistics by May 31, 2024.

  15. Added a link to the Housing Benefit statistics on speed of processing for 2023 to 2024.

  16. Added a link to the Housing Benefit statistics on speed of processing for 2022 to 2023.

  17. Added a link to 'Housing Benefit: statistics on speed of processing 2021 to 2022' - the data in this release is for April to June 2021, also known as quarter 1.

  18. Added 'Housing Benefit: statistics on speed of processing 2020 to 2021' - the data in this release is for April to June 2020, also known as quarter 1.

  19. Added 'Housing Benefit: statistics on speed of processing 2019 to 2020' - the data in this release is for April to June 2019, also known as quarter 1.

  20. Added request for feedback on changing the frequency of the Housing Benefit speed of processing publication from every 3 months to every 6 months.

  21. Added 'Housing Benefit: statistics on speed of processing 2018 to 2019' - the data in this release of statistics is for April to June 2018, also known as quarter 1.

  22. Added 'Housing Benefit: statistics on speed of processing 2017 to 2018'. This includes statistics for April to June 2017 (quarter 1, 2017 to 2018).

  23. Published Housing Benefit 'speed of processing' statistics for April to June 2016.

  24. Published Housing Benefit 'speed of processing' statistics for April to June 2015.

  25. Minor revision to 2014/15 statistics (see note on page).

  26. Published Housing Benefit 'speed of processing' statistics for July to September 2014.

  27. Published Housing Benefit 'speed of processing' statistics for April to June 2014.

  28. Published questionnaire to help us improve the statistics.

  29. Date of next release updated to 23 April 2014

  30. Supporting information and FAQ document added. 2013/14 Quarter 2 stats (July 2013 to September 2013) published

  31. Added latest Housing Benefit speed of processing statistics, April to June 2013

  32. First published.

This Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) quarterly publication provides statistics on Housing Benefit speed of processing (HB SoP) statistics for new claims and changes of circumstances.

The statistics includes tables covering:

  • the number of Housing Benefit claims and change of circumstances processed
  • the total number of processing days
  • working age and pension age breakdown for new claims and existing claims covering from January 2024
  • accommodation type breakdown for new claims from July 2025

Find details of future DWP statistics releases in the statistics release calendar.

There is contact information and more about DWP statistics on the Statistics at DWP page.

User consultation on proposed changes to the frequency and timing of some DWP Official Statistics

Following a review of the consultation feedback, the decision was taken to discontinue the HB SoP statistics. The publication released on 29 July 2026 was the final release of these statistics.

For more information see the consultation outcome. We are grateful to all those who took the time to respond.

Latest release

The latest release includes statistics for:

  • January to March 2026 (quarter 4, financial year 2025 to 2026)

Background information

Information about the Housing Benefit speed of processing statistics.

DWP publishes historic and forecast benefit expenditure and caseload data which is usually consistent with the Autumn Budget and Spring Statement.

Housing Benefit: debt recoveries and fraud data

Ad hoc statistical analyses: 2017

Previous releases

The January 2013 to March 2013 (quarter 4, 2012 to 2013) publication was the last to contain Council Tax Benefit.

Historic publications of ‘right time indicator’ and Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit claims quarterly performance data are available on the National Archives website.

Questionnaire about these statistics

Help us to improve our statistics and ensure value for money. Please complete our questionnaire about the speed of processing statistics to tell us what you think about our statistics.

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