Where the Benefit Cap would not apply

Claimants will not be capped where someone in the household (claimant, partner or any children they are responsible for and who live with them):

• obtains work and becomes entitled to Working Tax Credit;

• receives one of the benefits that exempt recipients from the cap.

The government says that people could also:

• move to cheaper accommodation or negotiate a rent reduction to one which is more affordable.

Figures released by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) in February 2014 showed that between 15 April 2013 (when the cap was introduced) to December 2013, over 36,400 thousand households had their housing benefit capped. Almost half of these (47%) were in London, with only two of the top 20 local authorities with the highest number of households affected being outside the capital – Birmingham and Manchester. Of the 28,434 households being capped in December 2013, 96% had children and 22% had their benefits reduced by more than £100 a week.

In addition, the government has introduced a welfare cap limiting the total amount it can spend on certain social security benefits in the five years from 2015-16. The cap set by the Treasury in the 2014 Autumn Statement is £119.7 billion for 2015-16.