The Benefit Cap & Housing Benefit
Single people without children cannot get more than £257.69/week in certain benefits (see below). Couples, and lone parents with children, cannot get more than £384.62/week in these benefits.
The following benefits all count towards the £257.69 or £384.62 limit:
- Jobseekers Allowance
- Income Support
- Employment & Support Allowance (though if you or your partner are in the ‘support group’ you will be exempt from the cap)
- Housing Benefit (except for certain types of accommodation)
- Child Benefit
- Child Tax Credit
- Bereavement Allowance
- Incapacity Benefit
- Maternity Allowance
- Severe Disablement Allowance
- Widow’s Pension
- Widowed mother’s allowance/ widowed parent’s allowance (though the first £15 is not taken into account)
If your income from the benefits above is more than your £257.69 or £384.62 limit, your Housing Benefit will be reduced. Use the Turn2Us benefit calculator to work out how much you will lose.
If you are claiming Housing Benefit after leaving work, the cap should not affect you for the first 39 weeks, providing:
- You or your partner were in work for at least 50 of the past 52 weeks, and
- The person in work was not entitled to Income Support, Jobseekers Allowance or Employment and Support Allowance in those 50 weeks.If the cap is going to affect you in the future, click here to see what you can do about it.