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.

The Housing Benefit speed of processing statistics show new claims and changes of circumstances separately and do not include a combined measure. Speed of processing replaced the old ‘right time indicator’.

The following are included in the additional tables for both new Housing Benefit claims and change of circumstance to existing Housing Benefit claims:

  • the number of Housing Benefit claims processed
  • the total number of processing days

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.

Latest release

Explore the statistics with our interactive map

View an interactive map at regional and local authority levels, showing the average number of days to process a new Housing Benefit claim or a change in an existing claim.

Background information

Information about the Housing Benefit speed of processing statistics.

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.

Published 23 July 2013
Last updated 25 October 2023 + show all updates
  1. Added a link to the Housing Benefit statistics on speed of processing for 2023 to 2024.

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

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

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

  7. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

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

  14. Published questionnaire to help us improve the statistics.

  15. Date of next release updated to 23 April 2014

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

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

  18. First published.