Official Statistics

Benefit cap: number of households capped to May 2020

Updated 28 August 2020

The latest release of these statistics can be found in the collection of benefit cap statistics.

The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of benefit that most working age people can get.

The amount of benefit a household receives should decrease to ensure claimants do not receive more than the cap limit. The benefit cap can be applied through either:

  • Universal Credit (UC)
  • Housing Benefit (HB)

The benefit cap was introduced in April 2013. It was initially applied to HB and subsequently to UC. UC replaces 6 means tested benefits including HB and since December 2018, UC has been applied to new claims across Great Britain (GB). However, a small number of the population may still apply for HB. Read about who can get Housing Benefit. The government currently plans that by the end of 2024, all existing legacy claimants (including HB) will have moved on to UC.

When the benefit cap was introduced in April 2013, the cap level set initially was:

  • £26,000 per year
  • £18,200 per year for single adults with no children

The Summer Budget 2015 announced changes to the level of the benefit cap to:

  • £20,000 per year (or £13,400 for single adults with no children) nationally
  • £23,000 per year (£15,410 for single adults with no children) in Greater London

The lower cap levels were introduced from 7 November 2016 and remain the current cap limits.

1. Main stories

The number of households that had their benefits capped increased by 93% in May 2020 from February 2020 to 154,000 households. This is the biggest increase in the number of capped households since April 2013 and has been driven by an unprecedented increase of 665% in the number of newly UC capped households, a reflection of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The proportion of all capped households which were single-parent families decreased in May 2020 to 62% from 72% at February 2020. This shift in the type of households being capped contributed to an increase in the weekly amounts capped and a decrease in the proportion of households capped by £50 or less, for both UC and HB capped households.

The number of households flowing off the cap increased by 11,000 to 230,000 households at May 2020 from the previous quarter. This was driven by an unprecedented increase of 7,300 (116%) in the number of UC households flowing off the cap. The proportion of households flowing off the cap due to earnings exemption or open WTC has remained quite stable.

Figure 1: Capped households from February 2020 to May 2020, by flows, newly capped and benefit capped

The number of HB capped households is 30,000 at May 2020 and the number of UC capped households is 124,000 at May 2020, with 84,000 households newly capped under UC

2. COVID-19

This summary contains statistics on the number of households claiming UC and HB which are capped under the benefit cap for the period March 2020 to May 2020.

There has been no change to the benefit cap policy in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has introduced temporary emergency measures for other benefits which provide an exemption from the benefit cap. This includes the removal of waiting days for Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), introduction of telephone based assessments for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and the relaxation of rules on breaks in care and care provision available digitally for Carer’s Allowances.

These changes would impact on the number of households which have a valid exemption from the benefit cap and subsequently the number of households capped. The impact of these changes would be reflected in these statistics.

The COVID-19 pandemic which spread to the UK in early 2020 has affected the entire population with many businesses unable to trade and many employees being temporarily unable to work. As a result, there has been a marked increase in the number of claims for UC. The impact of this increased demand would be reflected in these statistics.

As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, DWP has put in place temporary emergency measures. As part of these, changes have been made to UC alongside other schemes the government has introduced.

For one year, the standard allowance of UC has been increased by £20 per week from 6 April 2020 above the already announced annual uprating, raising the standard allowance from £317.82 to £409.89 per month (for claimants aged 25 and over).

For those who are self-employed, the Minimum Income Floor (MIF) will not be applied for the period that the government’s support policies are in place for the COVID-19 pandemic. The MIF is the minimum amount of income a self-employed person is assessed to have if their reported self-employed income is lower than this. It is usually the equivalent income that somebody of the same age would earn at the minimum wage for the same hours the claimant is expected to work.

Requirements to attend appointments, undertake work preparation, undertake work search and be available for work had been temporarily suspended in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Following a review on the emergency measures, conditionality for all claimants was reinstated from the 30th June meaning the requirements to undertake work preparation etc. depending on the claimant’s regime, are now in place.

From the 1 July 2020, DWP reintroduced the requirement for claimants of UC, new style and Legacy Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) to accept a claimant commitment as part of any new claim and for existing claimants to have an updated claimant commitment in place.

Read a detailed timeline of key events in the life of Universal Credit.

These changes in the entitlement of UC accompanied with no change in the benefit cap levels would impact on the number of households capped under UC and the amount they have their benefits capped by. The impact of these changes would be reflected in these statistics.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there has be an increase in the demand for HB services. The impact of this increased demand would be reflected in these statistics.

There have also been some changes to policies impacting on HB services in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The affected policies are Local Housing Allowance (LHA) rates and WTC.

LHA rates determine the financial support renters in the private sector are entitled to. This rate has increased to the 30th percentile of rents within a local area for each bedroom size up to a maximum of 4 bedrooms and will be implemented from April 2020 for UC and HB claimants.

WTC has been increased by £20 per week in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and will be operational from 6 April 2020 until 4 April 2021. This has resulted in the Additional Earnings disregard for HB also increasing by £20 per week in line with this change. It will be operational from the 6 April 2020 until 4 April 2021.

These changes in the entitlement of HB alongside no change in the benefit cap levels would impact on the number of households capped under HB and the amount they have their benefits capped by. The impact of these changes would be reflected in these statistics.

3. What you need to know

In this release, DWP would like to announce plans for changing the publication dates for the Benefit Cap statistics and this change may take effect from the next release. Therefore the next release of the Benefit Cap statistics may be the 26th November 2020.

There are a number of reasons for publishing these statistics later in the month:

  • a more orderly release of DWP statistics – as this would allow DWP to publish benefit cap statistics after the HB and UC caseload statistics for the same reference period
  • more coherent data – as this would allow the same level of retrospection in the data as in the HB and UC caseload statistics
  • higher quality data – as this would allow more robust quality assurance of the data

National, Official and Experimental Statistics are produced in accordance with the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007 and the Code of Practice for Statistics (the Code).

This release contains Official and Experimental Statistics on the number of households that have had their benefits capped since the cap was introduced, in April 2013, to May 2020. They are compiled following the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and public value set out within the Code.

The statistics are released every 3 months in February, May, August and November and are sourced from data originally collected via administrative systems. Data for households capped under HB are taken from the Single Housing Benefit Extract (SHBE), and data for households capped under UC are taken from the DWP UC Official Statistics database.

UC data are returned on a particular count date each month. Statistics on households capped under UC do not include figures for those capped at the start of the UC rollout. The initial payment system, UC Live Service (UCLS), has gradually been replaced by the current digital system, UC Full Service (UCFS). Claimants were moved from UCLS to UCFS by March 2019, when UCLS ceased to be operational. Due to data quality and reporting it is not possible to produce robust experimental statistics on the number of households that were capped under UCLS.

Note UC statistics throughout this release refer to UCFS only. This is especially important to remember when looking at time series data.

Figures relating to households with their UC capped are subject to retrospection. All figures in these statistics have been updated as at May 2020. For more information, see the Background Information and Methodology document.

The benefit cap is applied to the combined income from benefits including:

  • Universal Credit
  • Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • Income Support
  • Employment and Support Allowance (except when the Support Component is in payment)
  • Housing Benefit
  • Child Benefit and Child Tax Credit
  • other benefits, such as Incapacity Benefit and Bereavement Allowance

Read more about when benefits are affected by the cap and when benefits are not affected by the cap.

The benefit cap is applied by reducing the amount of HB or UC that a household receives, so their total benefits no longer add up to more than the cap level.

The statistics in this document show:

  • the number of households that are currently capped or have ever been capped, as well as those newly capped and those who were capped due to the introduction of the lower cap level
  • the proportion of HB and UC claimants that have their benefit capped at the Local Authority (LA) level
  • family make-up of capped households. From August 2019, this includes statistics on children in UC capped households
  • the benefit make-up of HB capped households
  • average amount of benefits households are capped by (in £)
  • the number of households that are no longer capped (off-flows), as well as a range of outcomes at off-flow for HB capped households – including those who transfer to UC and remain capped, and the proportion of off-flows from the UC cap due to earnings

As set out in the response to the consultation on UC statistics, there are plans to further develop the set of UC statistics, in particular outcomes at off-flow.

Housing Benefit geographies

In this release, HB data are presented using 2 sets of geographies:

  • Administrative
  • Residential

Administrative

This represents the administrative body responsible for administering the HB, and is therefore only meaningful at LA level. There are cases where the administrative LA is responsible for administering HB outside the geographical boundaries of the LA, and the responsibility for particular dwellings can also change with time.

Residential

This represents the geographic boundaries of the LA area and is determined by the location of the dwelling that the HB relates to. Residential geographies can be presented using a wide range of geographies based on the postcode level of the dwelling itself, usually ranging from the output areas (OAs), which comprise a few postcodes only, up to country level. Residential geographies may change if there is a change in the geographical boundaries, and affect all the dwellings affected by the boundary change.

New methodology

There is a new methodology to assign residential geographies, which involves using more reliable data to source address information. Further information on changes to geography is data available on Stat-Xplore.

Census 2011 update

Residential data used in this release has been updated in line with the 2011 Census (2011 Census Output Areas (COAs)). A full back series from April 2013 until May 2020 is now presented based on 2011 data, for the full range of residential geographies.

Residential data using the 2001 Census (2001 COAs) is also available from April 2013 until February 2018 in tables released on Stat-Xplore. This data has been provided to allow comparisons with the HB caseload data for the same period.

Known Issue

Geography data used in this publication are based on the address held by DWP before the COVID-19 pandemic. An update to the address held in the central data source from which geography information is taken has been deferred until any changes of address can be verified. This is most likely to affect new claimants who have not had recent contact with DWP before the COVID-19 pandemic. This does not affect the address information held on the UCFS or the SHBE that the claimant has declared on their claim.

This report contains 5 measures for capped households:

  1. Point-in-time caseload – the number of capped households each month.
  2. Cumulative caseload – the overall number of households that have ever been capped from the introduction of the benefit cap to the latest month. For UC this is from October 2016 to the latest month. It should be noted this includes households at the point when they first enter the cap.
  3. Off-flows – the number of previously capped households that are no longer capped at the latest month.
  4. On-flows – the number of households that have their HB or UC capped for the first time each month.
  5. Newly capped – the number of households that have their benefits capped for the very first time. This excludes on flows to the UC cap who were previously capped under HB.

For more information about this, see the Background Information and Methodology document.

4. The number of capped households in GB

At May 2020 150,000 households had their benefits capped in GB:

  • 30,000 had HB capped
  • 120,000 had UC capped

Figure 2: Capped households each month, April 2013 to May 2020

The total number of capped households is 150,000 households at May 2020, driven by the number of UC capped households which is 120,000 at May 2020

150,000 households had their benefits capped at May 2020, an increase of 93%, or 74,000 households, on the previous quarter (February 2020).

The number of households capped under HB has continued to decrease (2,900 households or 9%) whilst the number of households capped under UC has continued to increase (77,000 households or 164%).

See data table 3, data table 11 or Stat-Xplore for full data.

84,000 households were newly capped in the last quarter.

Figure 3: Newly capped households at each month, April 2013 to May 2020

The number of newly UC capped households has increased sharply since April 2020 whilst the number of newly HB capped households has decreased further

84,000 households had their benefits capped for the first time this quarter (March 2020 to May 2020). This is 70,000 households more than last quarter (December 2019 to February 2020), when 14,000 households had their benefits capped for the first time.

The number of households having their UC capped for the first time peaked in April 2020, due to an increase in those claiming UC and the impact of changes to UC standard allowance in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Note: Newly capped households are those that have their benefits capped for the very first time. This excludes on flows to the UC cap who were previously capped under HB.

400,000 households have been capped at some point between April 2013 and May 2020.

Figure 4: Cumulative capped households at each month, April 2013 to May 2020

Between April 2013 and May 2020, the number of UC capped households was 180,000 and the number of HB capped households was 220,000

180,000 households have had their UC capped and 220,000 households have had their HB capped at some point between April 2013 and May 2020.

5. Characteristics of capped households

1.4% of benefit claiming households had their benefits capped at February 2020.

1.4% of households claiming HB or UC had their benefits capped at February 2020, which remained unchanged from November 2020.

Figure 5: Proportion of households claiming UC that have been capped, by LA at February 2020

A map showing the proportion of UC households that are capped, across LAs. Darker areas represent LAs with a higher proportion of capped households

1.8% of households claiming UC had their benefits capped at February 2020. Excluding unknowns, the London region had the highest proportion of UC households affected by the benefit cap, with 3.4% at February 2020.

Of the 10 Local Authorities (LAs) with the highest proportion of UC households having their benefits capped, 7 of them are in the London region, at February 2020.

Scotland was the region with the lowest proportion of UC households capped at 0.8%.

Figure 6: Proportion of households claiming HB that have been capped, by LA at February 2020

A map showing the proportion of UC households that are capped, across LAs. Darker areas represent LAs with a higher proportion of capped households

1.0% of households claiming HB had their benefits capped at February 2020. The London region had the highest proportion of HB households affected by the benefit cap, 1.3% at February 2020.

At February 2020, Scotland was the region with the lowest proportion of HB households capped at 0.5%.

Note: HB and UC statistics are provided on the same geographies with both being reported on a residence base. Administrative data for HB is available in the ODS tables and Stat Xplore. Read the Background Information and Methodology document for more information. The benefit cap can only be applied to households with claimants of working age. HB can be claimed by households with pension age claimants therefore caution should be taken when interpreting these statistics.

May 2020 caseload data for households claiming HB and UC were not available at the time of publishing. These statistics therefore refer to February 2020 (the latest available caseload date). LAs which are shaded grey in the above maps could be due to several factors such as data being small or missing.

6 in 10 households that have their benefits capped are single-parent families.

Figure 7: Percentage of capped households by family type from February 2019 until May 2020

The percentage of capped households which are single parent families has decreased from 72% in February 2020 to 62% at May 2020, with an increase in the percentages for other family types

62% (96,000) of households that had their benefits capped at May 2020 are single-parent families. The proportion of households which are single-parent families has remained stable since February 2019 but has decreased sharply over the last quarter from 72% in February 2020 to 62% in May 2020.

Figure 8: Single-parent capped households by age of youngest child, at May 2020

The proportion of single-parent capped households under HB and UC that have at least one child aged under 5 is 52% at May 2020

54% (52,000) of single-parent capped households have at least one child aged under 5 years, including 20% (19,000) with a child aged under 2 years at May 2020.

86% of currently capped households include children.

Figure 9: Percentage of capped households by number of children, at May 2020

The majority of capped households under HB and UC have between 2 and 4 children at May 2020

At May 2020, 86% (130,000) of households that had their benefits capped include children, with the figure at:

  • 85% (110,000) for UC
  • 93% (30,000) for HB

Of those capped households including children:

  • 90% (120,000) had between 1 and 4 children
  • 6% (8,400) had 5 or more children

From February 2020 (data at November 2019) a new methodology to determine number of children was developed. Figures prior to this cannot be compared.

Child Benefit and Child Tax Credits are both in scope for the HB cap, so households in receipt of these benefits are more likely to exceed the cap limit and be capped.

See data table 2, data table 9 data table 17 or Stat-Xplore for full data on the family make-up of capped households.

See data table 5 or data table 15 for full data on the age of youngest child by family type at May 2020.

See data table 8 for full data on the cumulative HB cap caseload by family type and age of youngest child.

HB Capped households by benefit make-up

Figure 10: Capped HB households by benefit make-up, at May 2020

The majority of HB capped households are claiming Child Tax Credits (90%) and Income Support (57%) at May 2020

Of HB capped households at May 2020:

  • 15% (4,400) were claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance
  • 12% (3,500) were claiming Employment and Support Allowance (Assessment Stage and Work-Related Activity Group only)
  • 57% (17,000) were claiming Income Support
  • 90% (27,000) were claiming Child Tax Credits
  • 2% (460) were claiming Housing Benefit
  • 1% (280) were claiming Bereavement Allowance only

See data table 6 for full data.

Capped households can be in receipt of multiple benefits and therefore percentages for households in receipt of each benefit do not sum to 100%. More information on benefits that are in-scope for the benefit cap and those that are exempt can be found in the Background Information and Methodology document. Analysis is based on benefit claims by the lead claimant in a household, and where applicable, their partner. Equivalent information is not available for UC as UC replaces multiple benefits with just one.

6. Households currently capped only due to lower cap levels

78% of capped households had their benefits capped due to the introduction of lower cap levels.

The benefit cap was introduced from April 2013. Changes to the level of the benefit cap were announced in the Summer Budget 2015 and the different cap levels for households inside and outside Greater London were introduced from 7 November 2016 and remain the current cap limits.

Figures 11 and 12 below show the proportion of UC and HB capped households that had their benefits capped only because of the introduction of lower cap levels by LA, at May 2020. The darker the LA the higher the proportion of capped households capped only because of the lower cap levels.

Figure 11: Proportion of UC households capped because of lower cap levels, by LA at May 2020

A map showing the proportion of UC capped households due to lower cap levels across LAs. Darker areas represent LAs with higher proportions of capped households due to lower cap levels

Across GB 78% (96,000) of UC households capped at May 2020 were capped only because of the introduction of the lower cap levels.

See data table 14 for full data on the number of UC households capped because of the lower cap levels.

Figure 12: Proportion of HB households capped because of lower cap levels, by LA at May 2020

A map showing the proportion of HB capped households due to lower cap levels across LAs. Darker areas represent LAs with higher proportions of capped households due to lower cap levels

Across GB 79% (23,000) of HB households capped at May 2020 were capped only because of the introduction of the lower cap levels.

See data table 7 for full data on the number of HB households capped because of the lower cap levels.

Note: HB and UC statistics are based on different geographies. It is important to note the distinction between residence-based (for UC) and administrative-based (for HB) geographies as they are not always directly comparable. See the Background Information and Methodology document for more information.

LAs which are shaded grey in the above maps could be due to several factors such as data being small and/or missing.

7. The financial impact of being capped

Households had their benefits capped by an average of £57 a week, at May 2020.

The average weekly equivalent amount that UC households are capped by is £58, at May 2020. This is the equivalent of £253 per month. The average weekly amount that HB households are capped by is £53, at May 2020.The average weekly amount of benefit capped for both UC and HB households has increased from the previous quarter.

Figure 13: Average weekly amount of benefit capped in £ from February 2019 until May 2020

The average weekly amount of benefits capped for both HB and UC households has increased to £58 and £53 at May 2020 from £51 and £50 at February 2020

UC is assessed and paid monthly. The benefit cap is applied to the full UC award and not just to housing costs. For these statistics, a weekly cap equivalent has been calculated for UC households by dividing the amount a household has been capped by for the assessment period (which lasts one month) by 4.33

The average weekly amount of benefits capped refers to the mean amount. See the Background Information and Methodology document for further details.

The difference in average cap amounts across the 2 benefits may be affected by the differences in their caseload compositions. The UC cap caseload contains a larger proportion of single people and smaller families, affecting the average amount that households are capped

The benefit cap is applied to the full UC award not just to housing costs. Therefore, direct comparisons of cap amounts across HB and UC should be made with care.

See Stat-Xplore for full data, including by region and LA.

57% of households had their UC capped by £50 or less a week.

Figure 14: UC capped households, by the weekly equivalent amount capped at May 2020

The majority (57%) of UC capped households are capped by £50 or less at May 2020, with a further 26% capped by the equivalent of £50 to £100 per week

At May 2020:

  • 57% (71,000) of households that had their UC capped were capped by the equivalent of £50 or less a week
  • a further 26% (32,000) were capped by the equivalent of £50 to £100 per week
  • 3.0% (3,700) were capped by the equivalent of £200 or more a week including 0.5% (680) capped by the equivalent of more than £300 a week

See data table 9 or Stat-Xplore for full data.

58% of households had their HB capped by £50 or less a week.

Figure 15: HB capped households, by the weekly amount capped at May 2020

The majority (58%) of HB capped households are capped by £50 or less at May 2020, with a further 29% capped by the equivalent of £50 to £100 per week

At May 2020:

  • 58% (17,000) of households that had their HB capped were capped by £50 or less a week
  • a further 29% (8,600) were capped by £50 to £100 per week
  • 1.6% (490) were capped by £200 or more a week including 0.4% (130) capped by more than £300 a week

From 7 November 2016 cap levels were lowered, and different cap levels for households inside and outside Greater London were introduced, replacing the single cap level that existed previously.

See data table 2 or Stat-Xplore for full data.

8. Moving off the cap

230,000 households who had their benefits capped previously are no longer capped at May 2020.

Figure 16: Total off-flows from the benefit cap, by month and benefit under which household was last capped at May 2020

The number of households flowing off the cap at May 2020 has increased to 230,000 households, driven by the increase in the number of UC capped households flowing off the cap

230,000 households who had their benefits capped at some point between 15 April 2013 and April 2020, were no longer capped at May 2020. This is an increase of 11,000 from last quarter, at February 2020.

53,000 (30%) households who once had their UC capped were no longer capped at May 2020, an increase of 7,300 since last quarter. Of the households who have had their HB capped, 190,000 (86%) had left the HB cap at May 2020.

See data table 4, data table 16 or Stat-Xplore for full data. `

Off-flow statistics for capped households are not directly comparable with previous statistics, due to developments in the production of the statistics. From 1 August 2019, households whose outcome for leaving the HB cap had been to move to UC are now divided into those who have moved to UC and are capped, and those who are no longer capped under UC. Due to this, total off flow figures do not include households who move from being capped under HB to being capped under UC, although these would count as households leaving the HB cap. In order to be counted as an off flow from the cap a household must no longer be capped on either benefit. Benefit cap off-flow outcome statistics for UC and HB are not directly comparable as the UC and HB policies are different. Further UC off-flow statistics are still in development.

21% of all households that previously had their UC capped moved off the cap because of earnings.

Figure 17: UC off-flows from the benefit cap, by household outcome at May 2020

The proportion of UC households that are no longer capped because of their earnings exceeding the earnings exemption threshold is 21% at May 2020

Of the 53,000 households that no longer had their UC capped at May 2020, 21% (11,000) became exempt as they were earning more than the threshold at which households become exempt from the benefit cap.

The earnings exemption threshold is subject to change each financial year. At the financial year 2020 to 2021 the earnings exemption threshold is set at £604 per assessment period. The earnings exemption threshold will be updated in April 2021 for the financial year 2021/22. Details of previous exemption threshold levels can be found in the Background Information and Methodology document.

See data table 16 for full data broken down by Region.

Outcome statistics for households no longer capped under UC are still under development and are not comparable with statistics for outcomes of those who are no longer capped under HB. Comparable figures on outcomes related to moving into work are difficult because exemption from the HB cap is linked to hours worked (a household becomes exempt from the cap if they claim WTC and for UC is linked to earnings (a household becomes exempt from the cap when their earnings exceed the earnings exemption threshold). For the year 2020 to 2021 the earnings exemption threshold is set at £604 per assessment period. For these reasons, outcome figures are presented here for households no longer capped for HB and UC separately.

Off-flow outcomes are shown as at the end of the quarter in which a household moved off the benefit cap, meaning the outcomes are fixed at that point, unless a household is re-capped at a later date. More detail on the way off-flow outcomes are determined is included in the Background Information and Methodology document.

32% of all households that previously had their HB capped moved off the HB cap with an open WTC claim.

Figure 18: HB off-flows by household outcome, at May 2020

The proportion of HB households that are no longer capped because of having an Open Working Tax Credit claim is 32% at May 2020. Also, the proportion of HB households no longer capped due to receiving an exempt benefit is 18% at May 2020

86% (190,000) of households that have had their HB capped prior to February 2020, no longer have HB capped at May 2020. This is an increase of 4,000 households on the previous quarter (February 2020).

Of the 190,000 households that no longer had their HB capped at May 2020, 62,000 were exempt with an open WTC claim at the time they moved off the cap, indicating that they moved into work. This is 32% of those no longer capped.

23,000 (12%) households that no longer had their HB capped at May 2020 were no longer claiming HB when they moved off the cap but had started to claim UC. Of these, 9,900 (43%) were no longer capped after moving to UC.

For illustration purposes and consistency with previous releases, households which have flowed from HB on to the UC cap have been included. These households are not considered in the overall off-flow figures for HB.

See data table 4 for full data.

Households can flow off the cap for many different reasons and there may be several reasons why a household is no longer capped. These reasons are ranked (as in the chart above), only the highest ranking reason per household is counted.

Off-flow outcomes are shown as at the end of the quarter in which a household moved off the benefit cap, meaning the outcomes are fixed at that point, unless a household is re-capped at a later date.

See the Background Information and Methodology document for more information on how the ranking was developed and is applied, as well as detail the way off-flow outcomes are determined.

Since December 2018, WTC have been replaced by UC with only a small number of the population able to apply for WTC, read the eligibility criteria.

It is therefore expected that the proportion of households previously capped under HB that are no longer capped due to having an open WTC award has decreased this quarter.

34% of single parent households who no longer have their HB capped left the cap with an open WTC claim.

Figure 19: HB off-flows for single parent households by household outcome, at May 2020

Proportion of single-parent households with a child under 2 and exempt with an open WTC claim at off-flow is 36% May 2020. Proportion of single parent households with a child under 5 and exempt with an open WTC claim at off-flow is 36% at May 2020

For single parent households with a child aged under 2 years, 84% (25,000) who have at some point had their HB capped no longer have HB capped at May 2020. Of these, 36% (9,100) were exempt with an open WTC claim when they moved off the cap, indicating that they moved into work.

For single-parent households with a child aged under 5 years, 80% (70,000) of those who have previously had their HB capped no longer have HB capped at November 2019. Of these, 36% (25,000) were exempt with an open WTC claim when they moved off the cap, indicating that they moved into work.

See data table 8 for a full data by age of youngest child. Further details can be found here.

UC has replaced tax credits since December 2018 meaning there are no new claims. However, if a claimant is getting Child Tax Credit (CTC) and they start work they can claim WTC because it’s treated as a change of circumstances which doesn’t require them to move across to UC.

Off-flow outcomes are shown as at the end of the quarter in which a household moved off the benefit cap, meaning the outcomes are fixed at that point, unless a household is re-capped at a later date. More detail on the way off-flow outcomes are determined is included in the Background Information and Methodology document.

These statistics were originally developed to inform Judicial Reviews in relation to the benefit cap, and its application to lone parents with children under 2, and children under 5. These statistics still remain of interest. More information can be found under Benefit Cap Judicial Reviews section below.

Statistics on children in UC households are not currently available. More information can be found in the Background Information and Methodology document.

9. About these statistics

Experimental Statistics on households that had their UC capped

This release contains experimental statistics on the number of households that have had their UC capped, alongside the quarterly HB cap statistics. From August 2019 we publish additional information on households which have their UC capped, including the number of children in these households. We are also able to identify whether households who move from HB to UC then have their UC capped.

UC was introduced in 2013 and is now available for all new claims from in GB. The expansion of UC across the country was started in May 2016, and roll out was completed in 2018. The government currently plans that by the end of 2024, all existing legacy claimants will have moved on to UC. Since UC has been available in every Jobcentre since December 2018, the number of households who have their UC award capped has increased steadily and the number capped under HB has declined. In October 2019 the UC capped caseload exceeded the HB caseload for the first time.

Figures for UC capped households include UCFS only. Due to data quality and reporting it is not possible to produce robust experimental statistics on the number of households that were capped under UCLS. When looking at figures in a time series, it should be noted these exclude figures for UCLS in the period from April 2013 until March 2019, when it ceased to be operational. The roll out of UCFS was completed in December 2018, and it is now available in every Jobcentre across the country.

Data sources

Data used to create the statistics comes from administrative databases. For these, accuracy is determined by how well the information is recorded and transmitted.

HB Data

The main source of data on households that had their HB capped is the SHBE. SHBE is a monthly electronic scan of claimant level data direct from LA computer systems. SHBE includes a field that contains the weekly amount that the HB of a household has been capped by. This marker is central to the production of the statistics on households that had their HB capped.

The number of children and age of the youngest child dependant in a household is calculated by merging data held on HMRC child benefit systems to HB data on capped households. DWP benefits data are merged with HB data on capped households to give information on the types of benefits claimed by capped households.

Data on those households who have ever had their HB capped that are no longer capped is linked to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) and DWP benefits data to determine why households are no longer capped.

UC Data

Data on households that have had their UC capped is taken from the DWP Universal Credit Official Statistics database, which is compiled using data from systems within local offices and records of UC benefit payments made by the Department. This database includes a field that contains the amount of UC that a household has been capped by for an assessment period. This marker is used in the production of statistics on households that had their UC capped.

Data on households that had their UC capped is merged with the DWP Customer Information Service address file so that the number of capped households can be broken down by region and LA.

Data on households that have had their UC capped is matched with the full DWP Universal Credit Official Statistics database to obtain information on earnings, which is used to determine which households moved off the cap under UC due to becoming exempt due to their earnings.

The number of children and age of the youngest child dependant in a household is calculated by merging data held on HMRC child benefit systems to data on UC capped households. This detail is available for capped households only, and not the UC caseload.

Data coverage and reporting month

LAs extract and return their HB data to DWP over a four week rolling period based on an extraction schedule for each LA. For example, the previous “February 2019” data shown last quarter was typically extracted between 28 January and 21 February 2019. Each LA may extract their data up to a week before the date it is scheduled to be returned to DWP. Consequently, the statistics do not directly relate to a particular date but rather show the position of capped cases over a monthly cycle.

To be counted as being on UC a household must have an assessment period spanning the ‘count date’ for a particular month. An assessment period is the period of a month for which a UC payment is made. The count date is the second Thursday of the month. Entitlement to UC must also have been calculated.

Definition of a household

For the purposes of the benefit cap policy and hence this analysis, a household is defined as “one or two adults (living together as a couple) plus any dependent children they are living with.” This may also be termed a ‘benefit unit’. This differs from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) who define a household as one person alone; or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities and share a living room or sitting room or dining area. A household by the ONS definition may contain multiple benefit units.

There are a small number of cases where an individual and household has more than one HB claim, for these cases, only the most recent claim is reported on.

Changes to the benefit cap amounts from 7 November 2016

The cap amounts and the benefits that are affected by the cap changed from 7 November 2016.

The Summer Budget 2015 announced changes to the level of the benefit cap to

  • £20,000 a year (£13,400 for single adults with no children) nationally
  • £23,000 a year (£15,410 for single adults with no children) in Greater London (the 32 London boroughs and the City of London).

The changes in cap levels were rolled-out across LAs from 7 November 2016 to 20 January 2017. From March 2017 data for all LAs reflects the lower cap levels.

Benefit Cap Judicial Reviews

DWP produced statistics on the number of households with children who have previously had their HB capped but are no longer capped, and the number of these that have moved into work, with a full breakdown by age of youngest child to inform Judicial Reviews in relation to the benefit cap, initially heard in the High Court in May 2017 (the judgement was handed down on 15 May 2019, with the court finding in the government’s favour). Read the ruling.

These statistics, at November 2016 and February 2017, were included in the tables published in the May 2017 statistical release (see data tables 8 and 9). Updated figures, at February 2019, are included in the tables published as part of this statistical release, in data table 8. From August 2019 comparable data for UC capped households has been published for first time.

Where to find out more

Use Stat-Xplore to create your own tables and further breakdowns of these statistics.

View national and regional figures in an interactive visualisation.

Read older releases of these statistics.

Read Background Information about these statistics.

Read statistics for households who have their benefits capped in Northern Ireland.

Read statistics on Housing Benefit caseload.

Read statistics on Universal Credit.

Read statistics on Local Authorities’ use of Discretionary Housing Payment funds.

Read more information on the benefit cap.

Contact us

Contact us for statistical enquiries and publication feedback only please.

Lead Statistician: Yolanda Ruiz Rodriguez

Produced by: Molly Lamb

DWP Press Office: 0203 267 5144