Official Statistics

Benefit cap: number of households capped to February 2025

Published 17 June 2025

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

The amount of benefit a household receives is reduced 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 and was initially applied via HB, and subsequently to UC as it was rolled out. The majority of claims are now capped via UC, however, a small number of the working age population may still apply for HB. For more information, see who can get HB and completing the move to UC.

This release covers data to February 2025. The benefit cap levels at that time were:

• £22,020 per year (or £14,753 for single adults with no children) nationally

• £25,323 per year (£16,967 for single adults with no children) in Greater London

The previous benefit cap levels can be found in our background information and methodology document.

It is important to note that the DWP annual benefit uprating which happens annually in April can have an impact on benefit cap statistical trends.

Figures within this release have been rounded in line with our rounding policy. Figures in the text and tables within this bulletin may not sum due to rounding. Figures in the graphs are plotted using unrounded numbers.

This release is accompanied by statistical data tables, which contain figures from the latest quarter. Full data, including all historic data, is available on Stat-Xplore.

This bulletin does not contain data on proportions of households in UC that have been capped. For more information, see About these statistics.

Changes to this bulletin from September 2025

From the September 2025 release, data on capped Housing Benefit (HB) households will only be released via stat-Xplore. The bulletin will still reference the total number of capped HB households but will not contain any narrative or graphs on HB and the data tables will no longer contain any information on HB. This is due to the number of capped HB customers being very low, as HB is being replaced by Universal Credit for working age customers, so unsuitable for detailed analysis.

Figures relating to households with their UC capped are currently subject to retrospection. Please note that from the September 2025 release we only plan to refresh the previous 2 years statistics and freeze the historical timeseries. This is in line with methodology for UC household statistics due to minimal retrospection after 2 years.

1. Main stories

The main stories are:

• 115,000 households had their benefit capped at February 2025:

  • 115,000 (99%) households were capped on UC at February 2025

  • 830 (1%) households were capped on HB at February 2025

• At February 2025, the total number of capped households has increased by 5% (5,600) since the previous quarter (November 2024):

• number of UC capped households have increased by 6% (6,500) since the previous quarter (November 2024)

• number of HB capped households have decreased by 54% (970) since the previous quarter (November 2024)

• The weekly average cap amount was £60 at February 2025, which is unchanged from November 2024.

Source: DWP Universal Credit Quarterly Statistics and DWP Housing Benefit Caseload Statistics to February 2025.

In the latest quarter for households capped on HB:

• the number of households that had their HB capped decreased by 54% from 1,800 at November 2024 to 830 at February 2025

• 690 households remained capped on HB at February 2025

• 1,100 households off-flowed from the benefit cap, which means no longer on the benefit cap between November 2024 and January 2025. Of the 1,100 off-flows, 85% (960 households) were no longer claiming HB. Of the households no longer claiming HB, 93%(890) are now claiming UC.

• 330 households moved from HB to UC and continued to be capped (between November 2024 and January 2025)

• 130 households were newly capped, which means they were on the HB benefit cap caseload for the first time between November 2024 and January 2025

• Of the 130 newly capped HB households, 50 also off-flowed within the same time-period (November 2024 to January 2025)

• 60 households returned to the HB cap that had been capped prior to, but not at, November 2024.

In the latest quarter for households capped on UC:

• the number of households that had their UC capped at February 2025 was 115,000, a 6% increase from 108,000, at November 2024

• 85,000 households remained capped on UC at February 2025

• there were 34,000 households that off-flowed from the benefit cap between November 2024 and January 2025

• 330 households moved from HB to UC and continued to be capped between November 2024 and January 2025. In this case it is not the first time the household was on the benefit cap, rather the first time it was capped under UC

• 20,000 were newly capped between November 2024 and January 2025

• 13,000 returned to the UC cap that had been capped prior to, but not at, November 2024

• 20,000 households  flowed on to the UC cap. Of these, 7,200 also flowed off the cap within the same time period (between November 2024 and January 2025)

Note: On-flow and off-flow figures relate to different time periods.

2. The number of capped households in GB

At February 2025, 115,000 households had their benefits capped in GB:

• 115,000 were capped on UC

• 830 were capped on HB

The total number of capped households has increased by 5% (5,600) when compared to November 2024:

Monthly number of UC and HB capped households from November 2013 to February 2025

Source: Benefit Cap HB point in time caseload and UC point in time caseload statistics to February 2025, Stat Xplore

Note: This graph is plotted using monthly point in time figures.

The benefit cap was introduced from April 2013 for households in receipt of HB. UC later came into the scope of the benefit cap in October 2016. Capped households claiming UC steadily increased from 360 households in (October 2016) to 11,000 households when UC was fully rolled out in November 2018. Up until this point, the changes to the overall capped caseload were driven by HB capped households, which reached 67,000 households in June 2017, following the decision to lower cap levels at November 2016. The HB capped caseload remained stable until August 2017 (65,000 households).

Following the completion of GB-wide roll out of UC in November 2018, the households capped on UC increased due to:

• the majority of new claimants no longer being able to apply for legacy benefits, only UC

• HB claimants moving onto UC

The UC capped caseload overtook the HB capped caseload in October 2019, with 36,000 HB households capped and 38,000 UC households capped. Since then, HB capped households have continued to steadily decrease to 820 households at February 2025.

Between March 2020 and April 2020, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UC capped caseload increased by 92%, from 58,000 households to 110,000 households. From April 2020 until March 2021 the number of households capped on UC increased to a peak of 160,000. The number of households capped on UC decreased sharply from March 2021 to November 2021, with a 40% (66,000 households) decrease to 98,000 households.

From October 2021 until April 2023, the monthly number of households capped under UC remained relatively stable, fluctuating between 95,000 and 110,000 households. There was a 22% decrease (21,000 households) in May 2023 when compared to April 2023. The majority of this decrease was due to the increased benefit cap levels from April 2023. After this, the number of households capped under UC figures fluctuated between 67,000 and 75,000 between May 2023 and March 2024, before a large increase at May 2024 to 113,000 households, coinciding with the annual uprating of DWP benefits and increase in Local Housing Allowance. From May 2024 the number of capped households under UC has remained between 108,000 and 115,000.

Please note, some of these comparisons are at a monthly level and therefore figures and percentages may be different to quarterly comparisons.

20,000 households (UC and HB) were newly capped in the latest quarter

The number of newly capped households at February 2025 decreased from the previous quarter

Quarterly total number of newly capped UC and HB households from November 2013 to February 2025

Source: Benefit Cap HB cumulative and UC cumulative caseload statistics to February 2025, Stat-Xplore

20,000 households had their benefits capped for the first time this quarter (November 2024 to January 2025). This is a decrease from last quarter (August 2024 to October 2024) where 25,000 households were capped for the first time. 

Note: Newly capped households are those that have their benefits capped for the very first time. For UC, this excludes off-flows from the HB cap who then immediately become capped under UC. Figures may refer to different time periods.

Numbers of UC households that flowed off the cap decreased for the latest quarter

Quarterly total number of households that have flowed off the UC and HB cap from November 2013 to February 2025

Source: Benefit Cap HB cumulative and UC cumulative caseload statistics to February 2025, Stat-Xplore

There were 34,000 households leaving the UC cap in the quarter to February 2025, a decrease from 37,000 households at the previous quarter ending (November 2024). Of these off-flows, 21% (7,200 households) were also on-flows during this quarter. This means that these households had their UC capped for the first time and left the cap during this quarter.

The number of quarterly off-flows from UC steadily increased to 5,400 at the quarter ending November 2019. The increase has been greater since the quarter ending February 2020, with a peak number of UC off-flows at November 2021 (45,000) which coincided with the withdrawal of the temporary £20 uplift to UC in October 2021.

Following this, the quarterly number of UC off-flows fluctuated between 18,000 and 22,000 until a large increase in the quarter to May 2023 (33,000). The elevated levels of UC off-flows in this quarter should be seen in the context of the increased benefit cap levels which were implemented from April 2023.

In the quarter to February 2025, 9% (3,000) of UC households that flowed off the cap, left the cap due to having employment earnings at, or over, the employment earnings threshold. The remaining 91% (31,000) left due to other reasons; examples include a household’s benefit income has reduced under the cap level, a household is in receipt of an exempting benefit, or a household is no longer claiming UC. This compares to 7% (2,700) of UC households that left due to earning over the earnings threshold, and 93% (34,000) leaving the cap due to other reasons, in the quarter to November 2024.

The employment earnings exemption threshold is subject to change each financial year. The earnings exemption threshold is £793 for the Financial Year Ending (FYE) 2025. Details of previous exemption threshold levels can be found in background information and methodology document.

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 capped again at a later date. More detail on the way off-flow outcomes are determined is included in the background information and methodology document.

In the quarter to February 2025, 1,100 households left the HB cap. Of these off-flows, 85% (960 households) were no longer claiming HB. Of these, 93% (890) of households no longer claiming HB are now claiming UC.

3. Characteristics of capped households

84% of households (HB and UC) that are currently capped include children.

At February 2025, 84% (97,000) of households that had their benefits capped included children. In UC, 84% (96,000) of capped households included children and in HB, 37% (310) of capped households included children. The proportion of households with children capped in HB has reduced from 59% last quarter, coinciding with households receiving CTC being invited to move to UC.

Of the households including children, capped at February 2025:

• 92% (89,000) had between 1 and 4 children

• 8% (7,800) had 5 or more children

Proportion of UC and HB capped households by number of children at February 2025

Source: Benefit Cap HB point in time caseload and UC point in time caseload statistics to February 2025, Stat Xplore

Child Benefit (CHB) can be claimed alongside HB. Child Tax Credit(CTC) could previously be claimed alongside HB but is being gradually replaced by UC. UC claimants can receive CHB and, where applicable, receive the UC child element instead of CTC. CHB, CTC and UC are all in scope for the benefit cap, so households in receipt of these benefits or elements are more likely to exceed the cap limit and be capped if they are not exempt.

The majority (69%) of households that have their benefits capped continues to be single parent families

Proportion of capped households by household type from February 2019 to February 2025

Source: Benefit Cap HB point in time caseload and UC point in time caseload statistics to February 2025, Stat Xplore

Note: This graph is plotted using quarterly point in time figures.

The proportion of single parent households with benefits capped has been on a slight downward trend since August 2023 (74%) to 69% in February 2025.

Over the same period, single-person households with no children as a proportion of households with benefits capped has been rising gradually from 10% at August 2023 to 16% at February 2025.

Households of couples with children has slightly decreased from 16% at August 2023 to 15% at February 2025.

Over half of all single-parent households capped on UC have a youngest child under the age of 5 at February 2025.

Number of capped UC single parent households (thousands) by age of youngest child at February 2025.

Source: DWP Universal Credit Quarterly Statistics, DWP Housing Benefit Caseload Statistics to February 2025.

Note: Information on the age of youngest child for capped Housing Benefit households has been suspended for this release of the Benefit Cap statistics.

Of single-parent UC capped households, 44,000 (56%) have at least one child aged under 5 years at February 2025. In the same month there were 21,000 (26%) of single-parent UC capped households having a child aged under 2 years.

The proportion of HB claiming households that are capped is greatest in London region

0.1% of working age households claiming HB had their benefits capped at February 2025, which is a decrease from 0.2% at November 2024. The London region continues to have the highest proportion of HB households affected by the benefit cap, with 0.3% of households capped at February 2025, which is a decrease from 0.5% at August 2024.

4. The financial impact of being capped

Households had their benefits capped by an average of £60 per week (when combining HB and UC) at February 2025, unchanged from November 2025

The average weekly amount capped for UC and HB combined is unchanged at February 2025 when compared to November 2024

Weekly capped amount for UC and HB households from February 2019 to February 2025

Source: DWP Universal Credit Quarterly Statistics and DWP Housing Benefit Caseload Statistics to February 2025

Note: This graph is plotted using quarterly point in time figures.

The average amount that households are capped by on both UC and HB remained broadly comparable since November 2022 to February 2024.

At February 2025, the average amount that UC households are capped by is £259 per assessment period. This is the equivalent of £60 per week. This is a decrease from £262 per assessment period, or £60 per week at November 2024.

The average weekly amount that HB households are capped by is £55 at February 2025 which is a decrease from £56 at November 2024.

Note: UC is assessed and paid monthly and the benefit cap is applied to the full UC award. For these statistics, a weekly cap equivalent has been calculated for UC households by dividing the amount a household has been capped by in an assessment period (which lasts one month) by 4.33.

The difference in average cap amounts across the two benefits may be affected by the differences in their caseload compositions and the different entitlement conditions across the benefits.

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 not be made.

Proportion of UC capped households by cap amount at February 2025.

At February 2025:

• 57% (65,000) of households that had their UC capped were capped by the equivalent of £50 or less per week

• 25% (29,000) were capped by the equivalent of £50.01 to £100 per week

• 10% (12,000) were capped by the equivalent of £100.01 to £150 per week

• 4% (4,800) were capped by the equivalent of £150.01 to £200 per week

• 3% (3,800) were capped by the equivalent of more than £200 a week, including 1% (960) capped by the equivalent of more than £300 per week.

5. About these statistics

Suspension of age of youngest child data for capped Housing Benefit households

Information on the age of youngest child for capped Housing Benefit households continues to be suspended for this release of the Benefit Cap statistics. This is due to an issue with the quality of the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) statistical Child Benefit data, which is still being investigated. This issue only affects the Benefit Cap statistics and no other DWP statistical releases.

Proportion of households in UC and HB that are capped

The proportion of households in UC that are being capped has been suspended for this bulletin. Changes have been made to the format of the Universal Credit data feed to improve the accuracy of Service Centre and Jobcentre site information.

These changes require substantial changes to the code used to produce the UC household statistics. It has not been possible to implement this within the time needed for production of the UC household quarterly statistics for February 2025. This will be reinstated in the next release.

The map showing the proportion of households in HB that are being capped by local authority area is not published in this release, only regional narrative is included. Due to the low numbers of households now being capped in HB, the number of households in the majority of local authority areas are now too small to provide meaningful analysis.

Quality of Local Authority Data

It is worth noting that the extracts used to create the Housing Benefit data contain administrative data from Local Authority computer systems. Sometimes changes to LA’s IT processes, system conversions or unforeseen events such as cyber-attacks can disrupt the data supply.

Please note caveats and warnings in the accompanying ODS tables and Stat-Xplore where they appear.

Release schedule

The statistics are published quarterly in March, June, September, and November and are sourced from data originally collected via administrative systems.

Next release: 23 September 2025 (number of households capped to May 2025)

Status of these statistics

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards by emailing the statistical production team at stats@dwp.gov.uk Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the Office for Statistics Regulation website.

Rounding

Volumes and amounts have been rounded as detailed below.  Sometimes figures are rounded differently where comparisons between figures are made based on different rounding precisions, or where the rounding of figures could potentially give a misleading picture of the statistics and trends. For more information, please see the Background Information and Methodology document.

Percentages are calculated using numbers prior to rounding and rounded to the nearest whole percentage point.

Range	Rounded to the nearest
0 to 1,000	10
1,001 to 10,000	100
10,001 to 100,000	1,000
100,001 to 1,000,000	10,000
1,000,001 to 10,000,000	100,000
10,000,001 to 100,000,000	1,000,000

Data sources

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 UC historic figures in these statistics have been updated as at February 2025. For more information, see the Background Information and Methodology document. The timeseries detailing weekly cap amount does not include retrospection.

The proportion capped figures have been calculated using working age HB and UC household figures obtained from Stat-Xplore. The total number of HB and UC capped households have been divided by the total number of working age households on HB and UC respectively to obtain these figures.

Data period

Figures relating to on-flows, newly capped and off-flows refer to the time period November 2024 to January 2025. Figures relating to remaining capped or returning to the cap refer to the time period November 2024 to February 2025. The difference is due to the methodology used to obtain outcome at off-flow (including households that flow from the HB cap to the UC cap), as it is not possible to obtain outcome data for February 2025, at February 2025.

Where to find out more

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

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 HB caseload.

Read statistics on UC.

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

Read more information on the benefit cap.

7. Contact details

Contact us for statistical enquiries and publication feedback only please.

Lead Statistician: Stephen Slater

Producers: Stephen Slater, Kate Walker and Michael Agholor

Email: cbm.stats@dwp.gov.uk

Press enquiries should be directed to the DWP Press Office

ISBN: 978-1-78659-847-9