The government has replaced six working age benefits with a single benefit called Universal Credit for anyone one a lower income or who is out of work.
A limit has also been introduced on the total amount of benefit that working age people can receive. You can find out more about these welfare reforms below.
Universal Credit
Universal Credit has replaced the following benefits:
- Child Tax Credit
- Housing Benefit
- Income Support
- income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA)
- income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Working Tax Credit
If you receiving any of these benefits they will stop if you make a Universal Credit claim.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) will be moving people to Universal Credit over the next couple of years. You don’t need to do anything until you hear from the DWP, unless you have a change in circumstances.
Read more about Universal Credit
Benefit cap
The benefit cap is a limit on the total amount of benefit that most people aged 16 to 64 can get. If you are a single person, you are limited to £257.69 per week, if you are a couple or family, you are limited to £384.62 per week of the below benefits. If the amount you receive exceeds this amount, it will be deducted from your Housing Benefit.
The benefit cap affects:
- Bereavement Allowance
- Child Benefit
- Child Tax Credit
- Employment and Support Allowance
- Housing Benefit
- Incapacity Benefit
- Income Support
- Jobseeker’s Allowance
- Maternity Allowance
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Widowed Parent’s Allowance (or Widowed Mother’s Allowance or Widow’s Pension if you started getting it before 9 April 2001)
- Universal Credit
Read more about the benefit cap
Single claimants under 35 years old
If you’re single and under 35, you can only get Universal Credit for bed-sit accommodation or a single room in shared accommodation. This is called the shared accommodation rate.
The shared accommodation rate does not apply if you:
- have a child who lives with you
- live with your partner as a couple
- live with an adult non-dependant
- are a foster carer
- receive certain disability-related benefits.
Read more about the shared accommodation rate on the Shelter website
‘Bedroom tax’
If you rent from us, a registered housing association or other registered social landlord, the amount of Housing Benefit you get will be based on the number of bedrooms your household needs.
The rules allow one bedroom for:
- every adult couple (married or unmarried)
- any other adult aged 16 or over
- any two children of the same sex aged under 16
- any two children aged under 10
- any other child
- a non-resident carer.
If you are classed as having one or more extra bedrooms your Housing Benefit may be reduced. This is called ‘under occupancy'. Your Housing Benefit will be reduced by:
- 14% for under-occupancy by one bedroom
- 25% for under-occupancy by two bedrooms or more.
Find out if you’re affected by the ‘bedroom tax’ on the Shelter website